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ifications 



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PLUMBING 
PLAN SAND 
SPECIFICATIONS 



By 



J. J. GOSGROVE 




Author of 

*'PRINGIPLES AND PRAGTIGE OF PIUMBING" 

"SEWAGE PURIFIGATION AND DISPOSAL" 

"HISTORY OF SANITATION" 

"WROUGHT PIPE DRAINAGE SYSTEMS" 

"PLUMBING ESTIMATES AND CONTRAGTS" 

"DESIGN OF TURKISH BATHS" 



Published by 



Standard cSamtatgiPfe^Co* 



Pittsburgh, U. S. A. 



1.'^ 



i 



xy '^^ 



COPYRIGHT BY 

STANDARD SANITARY MFG. CO. 

PITTSBURGH, PA. 

1910 



• •• 



V 






^ 



PREFACE 




N EXPERIENCE of many years in the vari- 
ous branches of plumbing practice has brought 
home to the author the real need for a work 
on plumbing plans and specifications which 
will point out to those having the designing 
of plumbing systems; how to indicate materials and fixtures 
on plans; how to prepare full and complete working plans 
and details; how to write a satisfactory specification, and 
last, but not least, just what plumbing work is required in 
different classes of buildings. "Plumbing Plans and Speci- 
fications" is the result of that experience. 

The book is divided into four parts. The first part is 
devoted to a presentation of symbols which it is urged to 
adopt. This is more important than it may seem. If ten 
different plans, from as many different offices, be examined, 
the chances are that in no two of them will the symbols be 
alike. Further, plans prepared in the same office at differ- 
ent times, or by different draughtsmen at the same time, 
often have unlike symbols. That is rather confusing to 
those who must interpret the plans, and in the interest of 
simplicity and uniformity some standards should be adopted. 

Part two explains how to prepare plumbing plans 
and make up detail drawings of plumbing work. It is the 
combining of the symbols into a complete intelligible whole, 
just as letters are formed into words, words into sentences 
and sentences into paragraphs. 

The third part takes up the matter of specifications, 
and as nothing is so good as a concrete example for ex- 
plaining a point, a full working specification is reproduced, 
which can be used as a form, and modified or altered to suit 



all cases. Following the specification are some explanatory 
notes and helpful suggestions for those who have the writing 
to do. After pointing out how to write specifications, the 
various clauses and conditions are analyzed, to show their real 
significance and meaning. 

Even though an architect understands how to draw 
plumbing plans, he is often at a loss to know what nature of 
plumbing work is necessary from an architectural stand- 
point for various classes of buildings. In order that this in- 
formation will be available in the future, part four dis- 
cusses the requirements for buildings of various types and 
shows examples of each class of building. 

This book is supplemental to ''Principles and Practice 
of Plumbing, '* which explains how work should be done. 
"Plumbing Plans and Specifications" explains how to indicate 
the work on plans and describes it in specifications. It is ob- 
vious, however, that nobody can properly plan work or write 
an intelligent specification without first knowing how the 
work should be performed. 

J. J. COSGROVE 
Philadelphia, Pa., 
June 15, 1910. 



PUBLISHER'S NOTE 




N THE publisher's note, printed in the vari- 
ous books which preceded this one, we en- 
deavored to make clear our connection with 
the publication of technical works on plumb- 
ing and sanitation, and for the benefit of the 

readers of this volume, we herewith repeat the story of our 

relation as Publisher's and Manufacturer's. 

The primary object of our organization is, as uni- 
versally known, to manufacture and market *^tattdat<d^ 
Plumbing Fixtures, Brass Goods, and other products made 
in our factories. In the development of an organization to 
accomplish this result, there has been established an Adver- 
tising and Publishing Department of no small proportions, 
and * 'Plumbing Plans and Specifications" is a part of the 
work of this department. 

One of the most widely known productions of the 
Publishing Department is the monthly magazine, "Modern 
Sanitation," which was established in June, 1904. From 
this came the publication, first in serial form and later as 
books, of * 'Principles and Practice of Plumbing," "Sewage 
Purification and Disposal," "History of Sanitation," 
"Wrought Pipe Drainage Systems," "Plumbing Estimates 
and Contracts" and "Plumbing Plans and Specifications." 
These books are all the work of the same author, Mr. J. J. 
Cosgrove, who is recognized as one of the leading authori- 
ties on the questions upon which he writes. 

Mr. Cosgrove's first work was "Principles and Prac- 
tice of Plumbing." This book has been phenomenally suc- 
cessful and has been adopted as a text book in more than 30 
of the largest universities and colleges in the United States. 



Several of his other works are similarly used either in the 
form of text books or as books which students in plumbing 
and architecture are advised to read. 

In "Principles and Practice of Plumbing," Sewage 
Purification and Disposal," "History of Sanitation," 
* 'Wrought Pipe Drainage Systems," "Plumbing Estimates 
and Contracts" and "Plumbing Plans and Specifications," 
we feel that the literature of the craft has been enriched 
in an enduring manner and that we have fully justified 
our appearance in the field of publishers as amply as we 
have our standing as manufacturers of a world wide known 
and used product. 

Standard jSanitatS 1t)^. Co. 

Pittsburgh, U. S. A. 
Publishing Department. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Plumbing Plans 1 

Symbols for Plumbing Plans 1 

Usual Type of Plumbing Plan 25 

Improved Type of Plumbing Plans 33 

Plumbing Details : 45 

Drawing Plumbing Plans 55 

Plumbing Specifications 61 

Example of a Plumbing Specification 65 

Suggestions for Specification- Writing 85 

Analysis of Specifications 101 

Planning Plumbing Work 123 

Planning the Plumbing for Residences 127 

Planning the Plumbing in Apartment Houses 147 

Planning the Plumbing for School Buildings 157 

Planning the Plumbing in Y. M. C. A. Buildings 171 

Planning the Plumbing for Courthouses 183 

Planning the Plumbing for Hotel Buildings 193 

Planning the Plumbing for Club Buildings 205 

Planning the Plumbing for Churches 215 

Planning the Plumbing for Libraries 219 

Planning the Plumbing for Fire Engine Houses 220 

Planning the Plumbing for Factory Buildings 222 

Planning the Plumbing for Office Buildings 224 

Planning the Plumbing for Railway Stations 225 

Planning the Plumbing for Printing Offices 227 

Public Bath Houses 229 

Public Playgrounds 238 

Plumbing Work in Theatres, Hospitals and Prisons 243 

Planning Public Convenience Stations 255 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FIG. PAGE 

1 Symbol for Cast Iron Pipe 4 

2 Symbol for Wrought Pipe 4 

3 Symbol for Lead Pipe .... 6 

4 Symbols for Water Pipes.. 7 

5 One -Line Symbols for 

Valves 7 

6 Top View of Valve 8 

7 Side View of Globe Valve 8 

8 Side View of Angle Valve. . 8 

9 Gate Valve, Side View. .. . 9 

10 Plan of T- handle Stop 

Cock 9 

11 Side View of T- handle 

Stop Cock 9 

12 Plain View of Lever-han- 

dle Stop Cock 10 

13 Side View of Lever-han- 

dle Stop Cock 10 

14 Symbol for Faucet 10 

15 End View of Faucet 10 

16 Top View of Faucet 10 

17 Plan View of Drain Trap.. 10 

18 Side Symbol for Drain 

Trap 11 

19 Symbols for Soil Pipes on 

Plan 11 

20 Plan Symbols for Water 

Supply Risers 11 

21 Symbols for Floor Drain. . 12 

22 Symbol for Siphon Trap.. 12 

23 Symbol for Non - siphon 

Trap 12 

24 Symbol for a Suction Tank 13 

25 Symbol for House Tank. . . 14 

26 Symbol for Meter 14 

27 Plan Symbol for Water 

Heater 14 



FIG. PAGE 

28 Elevation Symbol for 

Water Heater 15 

29 Symbol for Hot Water 

Tank 15 

30 Symbol for Plan of Pump 15 

31 Symbol for Elevation of 

Pump 15 

32 Plan Symbol for Bath Tub 16 

33 Elevation Symbol for Bath 

Tub 16 

34 Plan Symbol for Lavatory 16 

35 Elevation Symbol for 

Lavatory 16 

36 Plan Symbol for Water 

Closet 17 

37 End Symbol for Water 

Closet 17 

38 Side Symbol for Water 

Closet 17 

39 Plan Symbol for Shower.. 17 

40 Elevation Symbol for 

Shower 17 

41 Plan Symbol for Needle 

Shower and Spray 
Bath 18 

42 Elevation Symbol for 

Needle Shower and 
Spray Bath 18 

43 Plan Symbol for Sink 19 

44 Elevation Symbol for Sink 19 

45 Plan Symbol for Slop Sink 19 

46 Elevation Symbol for Slop 

Sink 20 

47 Plan Symbol for Urinal. . . 20 

48 Elevation Symbol for 

Urinal 20 

49 Plan Symbol for Sitz Bath 21 

50 Elevation Symbol for Sitz 

Bath 21 



FIG. PAGE 

51 Plan Symbol for Foot Bath 21 

52 Elevation Symbol for Foot 

Bath 21 

53 Elevation Symbol for 

Child's Bath 22 

54 Plan Symbol for Bidet .... 22 

55 Elevation Symbol for 

Bidet 22 

56 Plan Symbol for Laundry 

Tray 23 

57 Elevation Symbol for 

Laundry Tray 23 

58 Plan Symbol for Drinking 

Fountain 23 

59 Elevation Symbol for 

Drinking Fountain 23 

60 Plan Symbol for Bubble 

Fountain 24 

61 Elevation Symbol for Bub- 

ble Fountain 24 

62 Usual Type First Floor 

Plan 26 

63 Usual Type Second Floor 

Plan 28 

64 Usual Type Third Floor 

Plan 30 

65 Usual Type Conventional 

Plumbing Elevation.. 31 

66 Improved Type Ground 

Floor Plumbing Plan.. 39 

67 Improved Type First, Sec- 

ond and Third Floor 
Plans 41 

68 Improved Type Fourth 

Floor Plumbing Plan.. 43 

69 Detail of Soil and Vent 

Stack 46 

70 Plan Detail of Bathrooms 47 

71 Detail Elevation of Lead 

Work in Bathrooms. . . 48 

72 Detail of Connections to 

Water Pipes in Bath- 
rooms 49 

73 Detail of Water Pipes in 

Bathrooms 50 

74 Plan Detail of Water Tank 51 

75 Elevation Detail of House 

Tank 52 

76 Elevation Detail of Mani- 

fold Headers 53 



FIG. PAGE 

77 End Detail of Manifold ... 54 

78 One -quarter Inch Scale 

Drawing of Bathroom 58 

79 One -eighth Inch Scale 

Drawing of Bathroom 59 

80 First Floor Plan of Pri- 

vate House 137 

81 Second Floor Plan of Pri- 

vate House 139 

82 Cellar Plan of Residence. . 141 

83 First Floor Plan of Resi- 

dence 143 

84 Second Floor Plan of Resi- 

dence 145 

85 Basement Plan of Apart- 

ment House 149 

86 First Floor Plan of Apart- 

ment House 151 

87 Second and Third Floor 

Plan of Apartment 
House 153 

88 Fourth Floor Plan of 

Apartment House 155 

89 First Floor Plan of School 167 

90 Typical Floor Plan of 

School Building 169 

91 Basement Plan of Y. M. 

C. A. Building 173 

92 First Floor Plan of Y. M. 

C. A. Building 175 

93 Second Floor Plan of Y. M. 

C. A. Building 177 

94 Third Floor Plan of Y. M. 

C. A. Building 179 

95 Fourth Floor Plan of Y. M. 

C. A. Building 181 

96 Basement Plan of Court- 

house 185 

97 First Floor Plan of Court- 

house 187 

98 Second Floor Plan of 

Courthouse 189 

99 Plumbing Details for 

Courthouses 191 

100 First Floor Plan of Hotel.. 195 

101 SecondFloorPlanof Hotel 197 

102 Upper Floor Plan of 

Hotel 199 

103 Novel Floor Plan of Hotel 

Building 201 



FIG. PAGE 

104 First Floor of Club Build- 

ing 208 

105 Second Floor of Club 

Building 209 

106 Third Floor of Club Build- 

ing 211 

107 Fourth and Fifth Floors 

of Club Building 213 

108 Detail of Form Sink for 

Press Room 228 

109 Model Wash House In- 

terior at Whitevale, 
England 235 

110 Basement Plan of Public 

Wash House and 
Baths 237 

111 First Floor Plan of Public 

Wash House and 
Baths 239 

112 Second Floor Plan of Pub- 

lic Wash House and 
Baths 241 

113 Layout of Typical Small 

Public Playground — 245 

114 Plan of Recreation Build- 

ing, Public Play- 
£rround 247 



FIG. PAGE 

115 Typical Swimming Pool 

Scene, Public Play- 
ground 248 

116 Shower Baths Before En- 

tering Swimming Pool 249 

117 An Outdoor Gymnasium.. 250 

118 Typical Wading Pool 

Scene, Children's Play- 
ground 251 

119 Typical Drinking Foun- 

tain Scene 252 

120 Front Elevation of Above- 

g round Convenience 
Station 259 

121 Rear Elevation of Above- 

ground Convenience 
Station 261 

122 Plan of Above-ground 

Public Convenience 
Station 263 

123 Elevation of an Under- 

ground Convenience 
Station 265 

124 Plan of an Underground 

Convenience Station. . 266 




PLUMBING 
P LAN SAND 
SPECIFICATIONS 



PART I 
PLUMBING PLANS 




CHAPTER I 

SYMBOLS FOR PLUMBING PLANS 




INTRODUCTORY 

HE contract for plumbing work in a 
building usually stipulates that the 
work shall be done according to the 
plans and specifications. This con- 
dition makes the plans and specifica- 
tions as much a part of the contract as though they 
were embodied in the indenture itself, and in order 
that no after dispute shall arise as to the true in- 
tent and meaning of the work to be performed, or 
material to be provided, the plans and specifica- 
tions should be so complete and full that they will 
cover every requirement; and so clear, concise and 
plain that they can be readily understood by a 
person of average intelligence having a reasonable 
knowledge of the plumbing business. In order to 
prepare a good plan and write the specifications, it 
is necessary for the designer to understand plumb- 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

ing practice in all its phases. Further, he must 
have a full knowledge of the various materials and 
fixtures suitable for this branch of building, to- 
gether w^ith their advantages and limitations. It 
is assumed that he is familiar with the various 
systems in vogue and can properly proportion 
drainage systems, water supply and other pipes, 
systems and apparatus, used in plumbing. 

The advantages of having well-prepared 
plumbing plans and specifications are sevenfold. 
There are many men of financial responsibility en- 
gaged in the plumbing business who do not possess 
sufficient skill and knowledge to properly lay out a 
system; and, unless the plans are full and complete, 
and the specifications explicit, these men cannot 
intelligently estimate on the work; consequently, 
they will either refuse to figure the cost or will 
estimate so high as to be out of the contest. If, on 
the other hand, the plans and specifications are so 
well prepared that nothing is left to conjecture 
which can be shown, described, or explained, the 
architect and owner will have the benefit of re- 
sponsible competition and will secure a better in- 
stallation; for it is to be presumed that a person 
skilled in laying out plumbing systems and writing 
the specifications will prepare a better and more 
nearly complete layout than will a contractor who 
seldom is called upon to lay out his own work, and 
then only on small installations. Furthermore, by 
carefully studying the plans and then laying out 
the plumbing work on separate sheets, the very 
best runs, with the use of the least possible mater- 
ial, can be planned with a considerable saving in 



Plumbing Plans and S p ee i f ic at i on b 



the cost of the installation; and so fully can the 
work be laid out that there will be a noticeable 
absence of the vexatious '^extras'' which e very- 
good architect tries to avoid. This in turn re- 
bounds to the credit of the architect, whose best 
means of advertising is through pleased and satis- 
fied clients. 

Another valuable feature of full and complete 
plumbing plans lies in their usefulness for future 
reference in case of alterations or repairs to the 
plumbing work in the building. 

Indicating Plumbing Work on Plans. — Con- 
ventional characters or symbols must be used to 
indicate plumbing work and fixtures on plans, just 
as symbols and lines are used to indicate doors, 
windows, steps, partitions and other structural de- 
tails on architectural drawings. At the present 
time there is no uniformity in this respect, and the 
lack of standards often leads to serious confusion. 
For instance, if plans from ten different offices are 
examined, the chances are that on no two of them 
will the symbols be alike. Further, plans prepared 
in the same office at different times, or one set of 
plans on which different draughtsmen have been 
working, will often show as many different symbols 
for a water closet or lavatory, as there were work- 
men engaged on the drawings. That is rather 
confusing to plumbers who must take off quantities 
from the plans; for, oftentimes the symbols used 
are so strange, and bear so little resemblance to 
the fixtures or apparatus, that some of them are 
overlooked by the estimator. 

3 




Q 




Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

In the following pages some simple, easily 
made, yet at the same time characteristic symbols 
are suggested as standards for 
use in architectural offices. 

y Their general adoption will not 
only be appreciated by plumb- 
ers, but will simplify and make 
more definite and certain the 
preparing of plumbing plans. 
There are various kinds of 
pipe used in a plumbing instal- 
lation, and it is necessary for 

^ the estimator and contractor to 
be able to distinguish between 
them at a glance. For this 
reason, the drainage system is 
drawn in an entirely different 
manner than the water-supply 
system; and the difference can 
likewise be distinguished be- 
tween cast-iron and wrought 
pipe. 

Cast-iron soil pipe is indica- 
ted on drawings by means of 
two lines, as shown in Fig. 1, 
with hubs at 5-foot intervals, 
and at fittings. The distance 
between the lines need not be 
drawn to scale, as that would 
sometimes bring the lines too 
close together, and it is found 
^^^' 1 better in practice to draw them ^^^- ^ 

Symbol f or . - ^ . , Symbol for 

Cast-iron Pipe out of proportion, when neces- wrought Pipe 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

sary, in order that they will stand out strong in the 
illustration. The sizes can then be marked along- 
side of the pipes, beginning where the drain enters 
the building. Once the size has been indicated, 
that size is supposed to continue until a smaller 
size is marked. 

Wrought-iron or steel pipe is indicated by 
means of two parallel lines, as in the case of cast- 
iron pipe, but with the difference, that hubs are 
omitted at 5-foot intervals and fittings or joints are 
indicated only where a branch connection or a bend 
in the pipe is to be made. Wrought pipe for water- 
supply is never shown in double lines on the plans 
or general drawings, so that when double -line 
wrought pipe is marked, drainage work is always 
understood. On detail drawings, however, show- 
ing runs of water pipe, the double line method is 
used, that being the better one for the purpose. 
Wrought pipe, such as used for drainage work is 
shown in Fig. 2. By comparing the Y fitting with 
the similar fitting on cast-iron pipe, shown in 
Fig. 1, the difference between the symbols for a 
cast-iron soil fitting and a recessed drainage fitting 
will be readily seen. 

Lead pipe is indicated by means of two parallel 
lines bent to fit any position or follow any direction. 
The junction of one lead pipe with another, at an 
angle, is indicated by a branch joint, as at a, a. 
Fig. 3; and where a lead pipe is connected to a 
brass ferrule or solder nipple, that fact is indicated 
by a wiped solder joint. Sometimes branches are 
connected together, as at 6, without indicating a 
solder joint. 

6 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



Water supply pipes on plans and general draw- 
ings are shown by means of single lines made solid, 
dotted, dashed or crossed, so as to indicate the 
different uses. For instance, if there were hot and 
cold, fresh and sajt water to be supplied to a sea- 
side hotel, the various pipes, together with circu- 
lation pipes, pump pipes, or any other kind that it 



^]zO 



bolder Nipple. 




Fig. 3 
Symbol for Lead Pipe 

might be necessary to show, could be indicated by 
lines similar to those shown in Fig. 4. Whatever 
symbols were used for this purpose, however, 
should be indicated on the plans with the key to 
explain their meaning, substantially as shown in 
the illustration. The lines shown in the illustration 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

need not be used as a matter of necessity, but any 
arbitrary lines will do so long as there is a key 
furnished to explain their uses. 



Cold Wafer 



■ — Hoi Wafer > Freah Wafer P/pea. 
-- C/rcu/of/on. 



Co/cf Wafer. \ 



r— Hof Wafer > <5a// Wafer Pipes. 



-M — C/rcu/af/on J 



Fig. 4 
Symbols for Water Pipes 

Characters will be found useful on water pipes 
showing where valves are to be placed, and this 
necessitates a set of symbols to indicate the various 
kinds of valves on solid or dotted line drawings. 
The side view of a globe valve for one-line pipe 
symbols, can be made as shown at (a) in Fig. 5, 
and the side view of a gate valve can be made as 
shown at (6). Having sym.bols to indicate the 
two principal kinds of valves will often be found 
convenient, as not only the location but likewise the 
kind of valve can frequently be shov/n. The plan 
view of either a gate valve, or a globe valve would 
be made as shown at (c). Looking down on a 

Plan View 
Globe Valve Gate Valve of Valve Angle Valve Check Valve 

(a) (b) ' (c) (d) (e) 

— k5« ^S^ H^^H — ^O^ — hSh — 



Fig. 5 
One-line Symbols for Valves 

valve, there is nothing to distinguish one kind from 
another. When necessary to differentiate, hovv^- 
ever, the side view of the respective valves can be 
shown in plan. Angle valves are made as at (cZ) . 

7 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

Check valves are not frequently required, but when 
they are may be drawn as shown at (e) . As the 
top view of a check valve would not differ much 
from the side view, for the sake of simplicity, the 
one symbol may be used in either position. 

In making detail drawings of water-supply 
pipes, double-line pipes are shown, and the valves, 
of course must correspond, the simple line-drawing 
symbols not being suitable for this purpose. 
Further, in making up a detail drawing, some 
valves might be shown in an upright position, while 
others will be shown turned on their sides; and 
different symbols must be provided for each case. 



1" 





Fig. 6 


Fig-. 7 


Fig. 8 


Top View of 


Side View of 


Side of 


Valve 


Globe Valve 


Angle Valve 



The top view of a valve, or the way it would look 
if turned on its side, is shown in Fig. 6. 

This symbol merely indicates, conventionally, 
a valve of some description without giving any clue 
to its kind or make, it might' be either a gate valve, 
or a globe valve, but would not answer for an angle 
valve, which would be rounded off on one end. 
All that is usually considered necessary in making 
detail drawings is to locate the various valves and 
show their uses, leaving to the specifications to 
state whether they shall be globe or gate valves, 
and the kind and quality. When possible however 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



it is advisable to use the correct symbol to show 
the kind of valve to be used. To this end it is 
necessary to have symbols for detail drawings, 
showing all types of cocks and valves. The side 
view of a globe valve is conventionally shown in 
Fig. 7. This shows the way the valve would look 
standing upright when screwed onto a pipe. An 
angle valve, which combines the double function 
of a valve and an elbow, is shown in Fig. 8. This 
valve may be shown in Its present upright position; 
turned on its back so that one outlet will point up; 
or turned so that the side outlet will point down. 
A check- valve would look like the side view of 
a globe valve with the stuffing-box, wheel, and 





lUpL 



Fiff. 9 


Fi^. 10 


Fiff. 11 


Gate Valve 


Pl^n of T-Handle 


Side View T-Handle 


Side View 


Stop Cock 


Stop Cock 



valve-stem left off. The side view of a gate valve 
would be drawn as indicated in Fig. 9. If placed 
on its side, the symbol for a gate valve v/ould be 
the same as for that of a globe valve. In addition 
to valves, stop cocks are sometimes used in the 
water supply systems to buildings, and convention- 
al symbols are necessary to show both the T-handle 
and lever handle cocks. Tee handle stop cocks are 
shown in plan as indicated in Fig. 10, while a side 
view is shown in Fig. 11. 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

The symbols for lever-handle cocks, differ but 
little from those of T-handle, the chief difference 
being in the shape of the handles. The top view 
of a lever-handle stop cock is shown in Fig. 12, and 
the side view is shown in Fig. 13. 






Fig. 12 Fig. 13 Fig. 14 

Plan View of Side View of Symbol for 

Lever- Handle Stop Cock Lever-Handle Stop Cock Faucet 

As a matter of fact the symbols used to repre- 
sent either a T-handle or a lever handle stop cock, 
might be used to indicate stop-and- waste cocks of 
the same pattern. The only way to learn definite- 
ly what grade, quality and make of cocks or valves 
are to be used, is to consult the specifications. The 
symbols show only that cocks and valves are to be 
used, and then approximate locations. It is left 
for the specifications to supply all remaining infor- 
mation. 



A 


^ 


^ 


00001 


Fig. 15 


Fig. 16 


Fig. 17 


End View 


Top View 


Plan View of 


of Faucet 




of Faucet 


Drain Trap 



[D 



The conventional way of indicating the side 
view of a faucet is shown in Fig. 14. This shows 
a compression type of faucet, but may be used to 
represent any kind or make. The end elevation of 

10 




Oo 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

a faucet is shown in Fig. 15, and a top, or plan 
view in Fig. 16. 

About the only fittings for the drainage system, 
which require symbols, are the drain traps, and the 
yard or floor drains. Ordinary fittings for cast-iron 

pipe, such as Tees, 

Y's and Ty's, are 

so familiar to all 

draughtsmen, ^"^^^^ '^"^^^" 
Fig. 18 that they can be Fig. i9 

Side Symbol for reDroduCed f r O m Sy"^^^3 f^'* Soil and 

Drain Trap Vent Stacks on Plans 

memory. 

Drain traps, with two cleanout plugs, are indi- 
cated in plan as shown in Fig. 17. When the trap 
has but one cleanout opening, the double circle 
with the square inside, to the left, which is on the 
outlet end of the trap, is omitted. The symbol 
thus changed indicates the plan view of a rain- 
leader, or other drain trap, having but one clean- 
out opening. Fig. 18 shows in elevation a trap 
with two cleanout openings. 

As in the case just explained, if a trap with a 
single cleanout opening is to be shown, the hub and 
cleanout plug to the left are omitted. 

Where stacks of soil, waste ^ ^ ^ 
and vent pipes pass up through ^.,^^^ ,...^^,^ rcrcuiation. 
a building, they are indicated 
on the plans by means of heavy pian symbols for 

circles, as shown in Fig. 19, water supply Risers 

and the size and kind of pipe are marked on the 
drawing. Water-supply pipes are indicated by 
solid disks, as shown in Fig. 20, and the size and 
kind of pipe are marked alongside as in the case of 

11 



Plumbing- Plans and Specifications 



soil, waste and vent pipes. The location of yard, 
area, cellar or other floor drains is shown, as indi- 
cated in Fig. 21. If made of masonry, the catch- 
basin for such drains should be detailed. If stock 
fittings are to be used the particular kind should 
be specified. 

A trap is used in connection with each fixture 
or set of fixtures, and its presence should always be 
shown on the drawing's. Generally, the syphon 
trap is used in connection with the two-pipe system 
of plumbing, and the non-syphon trap with the 
one-pipe systems. There is nothing, however, to 
prevent the non-syphon trap being used in connec- 
tion with two-pipe drainage systems, and, so the 



\ / 




w 



n\ 



^. 



\^ 



Fig. 21 


Fig. 22 


Fig. 23 


Symbol for 


Symbol for 


Symbol for 


Floor Drain 


Siphon Trap 


Non-Siphon Trap 



kind of trap to be used can be told at a glance, 
symbols are required for both syphons and non- 
syphon traps. 

Syphon traps are made as shown in Fig. 22, or 
the outlet leg may be turned down to form either 
a i-S-trap, or a full S-Trap. Non-syphon traps are 
indicated as shown in Fig. 23, by means of an en- 
larged drum, into which the inlet and outlet pipes 
are connected. Instead of a full S-trap, as shown 
in the symbol, a half S-trap can be indicated by 
extending the outlet pipe back to the wall. The 
syphon trap is used in connection with the two-pipe 

12 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



system of installation, and must be back vented 
from some point near the outlet. Non-syphon traps 
are generally used with the one-pipe system of 
plumbing and do not require to be back vented. 

Indicating Plumbing Apparatus on Plans. — In 
marking plumbing apparatus, such as pumps, tanks, 
filters, meters, heaters and manifolds, on plans, 
the chief requirement is to locate them in their 
right places and see that they are drawn to scale 
so that they will show the proportionate spaces 
they will occupy in the building. Square, or rect- 
angular, suction or house tanks can be indicated by 
means of a rectangle ... a^r n 

or square, drawn to -^ ^• 

scale, and showing 
the connections to 
the tank. The 
method of indicating 
a suction tank, sup- 
ported on I-beams, is 
shown in Fig. 24. 
The four lines 
bounding the rect- 
angle merely define the size of the tank, and the 
name, dimensions and other data may be marked 
within it or alongside. In detailing a tank and its 
connections, of course, a more complete drav/ing 
would be necessary. A conventional plan drawing 
of a circular house tank is shown in Fig. 25. It is 
merely indicated in its proportionate size by two 
concentric circles and is shown resting on two 
I-beams, which in turn are supported by the two 
walls of the building which form an angle at that 



/n/ef-C 




Suction 
fo Pump, 



4'x6'yd'Deep. 



Fig-. 24 
Symbol for a 
Suction Tank 



13 




J -Beam: 

Fig. 25 
Sjnnbol for House Tank 



a 



'k 
Valve. 



^ 



Valve. 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

point. Meters are generally shown as indicated in 
Fig. 26 and with a bi-pass around them. If, where 
the work is to be installed, the water authorities 
will not permit a bi-pass around the meter, a second 

meter is put in the bi-pass in 
all large buildings, and the bi- 
pass omitted entirely in others. 
House filters are shown as a 
circle or double concentric 
circle, fitted up with a bi-pass. 
If a circle were substituted for 
the symbol 
of a meter in 
Fig. 26 the illustration would pass 
very well for a filter connection. 
The method of indicating a 
water heater, in plan, is shown in 
Fig. 27. Usually this symbol is 
drawn alongside of a large circle 
which represents the hot-water 
tank, and pipes are shown con- 
necting the two 
parts of the heating outfit together. 
In detail drawings, the heater 
is shown, in elevation, as illustrated 
in Fig. 28. If a hot-water tank 
which is to be heated by a water 
heater, is intended to be suspended 
from the floor beams in a horizontal 
position, it may be indicated as shown in Fig. 29, 
but without the steam coil which is represented by 
dotted lines. If, on the other hand, the water is 
to be heated by means of steam circulating through 



Valve. 




Fig. 26 

Symbol for Meter 



Fig. 27 
Plan Symbol for 
a Water Heater 



14 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



a steam coil, the coil is indicated by means of dot- 
ted lines, as shown in the illustration. In either 
case bands may be shown supporting the tank from 
the overhead beams, or details may be made show- 
ing the form of hangers or rests to 
be used. Pumps may be shown 
conventionally in plan, as in Fig. 
30, and in elevation as in Fig. 31. 
The symbols illustrated in the fore- 
going para- 
graphs need 
not be closely 
followed, but 
any designs or 
symbols which 
will represent the apparatus they stand for, with 
the least expenditure of labor, consistant with good 
work, will answer. Nevertheless, in the interest 
of uniformity and simplicity, it will be found desir- 
able in practice to follow the general outline of the 
symbols indicated. They 
have long been tried in 





Fig. 28 

Elevation Symbol for 

a Water Heater 



Fig. 29 

Symbol for 

Hot- Water Tank 





Fig. 30 Fig. 31 

Symbol for Plan of Pump Symbol for Elevation of Pump 

the drafting room, and are known to be simple, 
practicable and easy to make. 

Indicating Plumbing Fixtures on Plans. — The 
symbols used on drawings to represent plumbing 
fixtures, bear a close resemblance to the outline of 

15 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

the fixtures represented, so that they can be dis- 
tinguished from other fittings or apparatus in the 
building, and so the kind of fixture can be told at a 
glance. If special fixtures are to be used, or if for 



fr 




m. 




Fig-. 32 Fig. 33 

Plan Symbol for Bath Tub Elevation Symbol for Bath Tub 

any reason the symbols cannot be made to repre- 
sent clearly the fixtures they stand for, the name 
of the fixtures, or letters which will indicate what 
they are, should be added to the symbol to avoid 
ambiguity. It should be remembered that the ob- 
ject is not to make illustrations of the various fit- 
tings, fixtures, and apparatus, but only mechanical 
drawings which will indicate with sufficient clear- 
ness what they represent, so that no uncertainty 
will arise as to what they stand for. It will be 
noticed that 
straight lines 
and circles are 
( ® ) used as much 

^ ) as possible in 

the symbols 
herein em- 
ployed, so that 
any draftsman, with T-square, triangle 
compass, can easily make any of them. It is good 
practice to draw the fixtures to scale on the plans, 
having each in its relative position, so the spaces 

16 



r^^ 



Fig, 34 

Plan Symbol for 

Lavatory 



*>.. ^■^ 



Fig. 35 

Elevation Symbol 

for Lavatory 

and 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



they will occupy and their relation to one another 
will be apparent. By drawing fixtures to scale, it 




7 




Fig. 36 


Fig. 37 


Fig. 38 


Plan Symbol for 


End Symbol for 


Side Symbol for 


Water Closet 


Water Closet ' 


Water Closet 



orjvjo 




Fig. 39 

Plan 

Symbol for 

Shower 



will be seen whether a group of fixtures can be in- 
stalled in the space allotted to them. If not, they 
can be rearranged before ink- 
ing them in on the drawings. 
The method of indicating a 
bath tub on plan is shown in 
Fig. 32. This symbol is so like 
the familiar outline of a bath 
tub that what it represents is 
suggested instantly to the 
mind. In Fig. 33 is shown the 
method of indicating a bath 
tub in elevation, and the like- 
ness is so striking that there is 
no danger of mistaking what 
the lines stand for. 

Lavatories are drawn in ^^ 
plan as shown in Fig. 34. The Fig. 4o 

oval opening in the center of Elevation symbol for shower 

the rectangle, together with the two cocks sticking 
over the edge of the slab, so as to discharge into 

17 



IMumbing Plans and Specifications 



the bowl, leave no doubt as to the object of this 
symbol. The method of indicating the lavatory in 
elevation is shown in Fig. 35, where the outline of 
the bowl, and the cocks above it, tell unmistakably 
what these lines stand for. 

Water closets are conven- 
tionally shown in plan as illus- 
trated in Fig. 36, and in front 
elevation as shown in Fig. 37. 
The side view of a closet is 
illustrated in Fig. 38. These 




Fig-. 41 
Plan Symbol for Needle, 
Shower and Spray Bath 




Fig-. 42 

Elevation Symbol for Needle, 

Shower and Spray Bath 



three symbols may be used to 
represent any type of water 
closet. Shower baths are indi- 
cated in plan by the symbol 
shown in Fig. 39. In eleva- 
tion, the illustration shown in Fig. 39 may be used. 
If, however, a shower bath is to be used in con- 
nection with a receptor, the outline of a receptor 
may be shown on Fig. 39 and the shower set over 
a receptor in Fig. 40. When used in combination 
with a bath tub, the two symbols, that for a shower, 
and the one for the bath tub can be combined. 



18 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




Fig. 43 
Plan Symbol for Sink 



There are various designs of needle, shower 
and spray baths, but one conventional set of 
symbols will answer for all. When a fixture of this 
description is to be 
set over a receptor, 
it may be shown on 
the plans as indi- 
cated in Fig. 41. 
The elevation of a 
needle, shower and 
spray bath may be shown as illustrated in Fig. 42, 
except when it is to be set in a stall, in which case 

the curtain ring and 
curtains may be 
omitted and the side 
walls of the stalls 
shown. If a fixture of 
this description is to be 
installed without a re- 
ceptor, the lines indi- 
cating this part of the 
combination can be omitted from the drawings and 
the floor beneath shown sloping 
to where the drain is located. 
Once a symbol has been adopted 
in architectural practice it can be 
changed and modified at any time 
to adopt it to new or changed 
conditions, and still bear sufficient 
resemblance to the original to be ^^^^ symbol for siop sink 
distinguishable and represent the fixture or appa- 
ratus it is intended to indicate. These remarks 
will apply equally to all of the symbols suggested. 

19 




Fig. 44 
Elevation Symbol for Sink 




Fig. 45 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 





It is often better to follow the main features of the 
symbol, changing it to suit the place or conditions, 
than to follow slavishly the design presented. 

Sinks may be shown with or 
without drip boards. When they 
are to have drip boards, they may 
be drawn in plan, as shown in 
Fig. 43. If without drip boards, 
the lines indicating the drip board 
may be omitted and the end of 
the sink now covered by the drip 
board may be finished on the 
drawing like the opposite end of 
the sink. Sometimes sinks are 
placed in an angle of the room, 
and a drip board turned around 
the angle, at other times sinks 
are set in re- 
cesses. In any 
such cases the symbol can be modi- 
fied to meet the new conditions. 
To show a sink in elevation, the 

symbol illus- 
trated in Fig. 
44 may be 
used. As in 
the case of the 
plan view, the 
„. ^„ drip board 

Fig. 47 ^ 

Plan Symbol for Urinal may be Omit- 
ted when the sink is to be installed without one. 
Slop sinks vary greatly in design, but they may all 
be conventionally indicated in plan, as shown in 

20 



Fig. 46 
Elevation Symbol for 
Slop Sink 





Fig. 48 

Elevation Symbol 

for Urinal 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

Fig. 45, while the elevation of a slop sink may be 
illustrated as in Fig. 46. If necessary, however, 
to detail the fixtures in a group of which a slop sink 
forms one, the supplies, and flush tank, if there be 





Fig. 49 


Fig. 50 


Plan Symbol for 


Elevation Symbol for 


Sitz Bath 


Sitz Bath 



one, should be shown, and pipe should be included 
in the detail 

When stall urinals with water flowing down 
the back slab are to be installed they can be indi- 
cated on the plans by drawing in the stall slabs and 
showing the floor slabs with gutter at the back and 
drain grooves leading into the gutter. In elevation 




Fig. 51 

Plan Symbol for 

Foot Bath 



Fig. 52 

Elevation Symbol for 

Foot Bath 



all that is necessary to show are the stalls, with 
the perforated pipe or other spraying devise at the 
back. Of course, stall urinals will be detailed, un- 
less stock goods are used, when they may be suf- 

21 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

ficiently described in the specifications by referring 
to the catalogue where they are listed. Ordinary 
urinal bowls, may be shown in plan as illustrated 
in Fig. 47. In elevation they may be indicated as 
shown in Fig. 48. Sitz baths are a 
frequent bath room fixture, so that 
symbols must be used to designate 
them. The plan view of a sitz bath 
may be seen in Fig. 49, and an ele- 
vation of the same fixture in Fig. 
50. The plan view of a sitz bath 
looks so much like the plan view of 
a foot bath, that it is well to mark 
each symbol with the name of the 
fixture, by placing the lettering in 
the respective illustrations. 

The symbol for the plan of a foot bath can be 
seen in Fig. 51, and a symbol for the elevation of 
the same fixture may be seen in Fig. 52. 

The elevation of a foot bath bears some re- 
semblance to the end view of a bath tub, but is not 




Fig. 53 
Elevation Symbol 
for Child's Bath 





Fig. 54 
Plan Symbol for Bidet 



Fig. 55 
Elevation Symbol for Bidet 



SO rounded on the bottom. However, if there is 
cause to believe at any time that there is danger of 
confusion or ambiguity, the foot bath had better be 
marked with letters stating what it is. A child's 

22 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



Fig. 56 

Plan Symbol for 

Laundry Tray- 




Fig. 57 
Elevation Symbol 
for Laundry Tray- 



bath tub cannot be distinguished in plan from a foot 
bath, so the one symbol will answer for the two fix- 
tures. The name of the fixture, however, should be 

printed on the symbol in each case. ^ ^ 

A child's bath may be shown in ele- 
vation as indicated 

in Fig. 53. There is 

not much likelihood 

of this fixture being 

mistaken for any- 
thing else. Bidets 

are shown in plan by 
the symbol illustrated in Fig. 54, and 
in side elevation by the symbol 
shown in Fig. 55. If an end elevation is to be 
shown, the side elevation may be shortened to one- 
half the length, and the supply fit- 
tings shown at the side, instead of 
the waste fitting, indicated in the 
illustration. Single laundry tubs 

are seldom shown, 

but, when they are, 

may be indicated in 

plan as illustrated in 

Fig. 56, and in eleva- 
tion as shown in Fig. 

57. Batteries of 
tubs are indicated by drawing the 
number of symbols required, side 
by side. 

Drinking fountains may be either the ordinary 
type set against a wall and supplied with water 
through a faucet, or bubble drinking fountains. 

23 





Fig. 58 

Plan Symbol for 

Drinking Fountain 



V 

Fig. 59 

Elevation Symbol for 

Drinking Fountain 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




Fig. 60 



The manner of showing an ordinary drinking 
fountain, in plan, is indicated in Fig. 58, and an 
elevation of the same type of fixture is shown in 
Fig. 59. Bubble drinking fountains are shown, in 
plan, as indicated in Fig. 60, and the elevation is 
indicated as shown in Fig. 61. 

The foregoing symbols, while they «. 

might not cover every form of device . -^'vi ■■> 
entering into plumbing practice, N; — / 
nevertheless are sufficiently complete 
for general use. If at any time a sym- 
bol is required to represent 
a new type of fixture, or 
form of device, it can be 
made as in the foregoing 
examples, by drawing an 
^foTluTbt'' outline of the figure to be 
Fountain represented, bearing in 
mind that the drawing must be simple, 
without unnecessary curved lines, and 
easy to make by any draftsman. 

The general adoption by architects 
of the symbols herein suggested will be 
found beneficial in many ways. There is no good 
reason why standard symbols should not be used to 
indicate plumbing work, the same as for indicating 
stairs, doors, windows and other details of building 
plans. At the present time, however, no uniform- 
ity of practice exists among draftsmen, and the re- 
sult is that plans turned out by the various offices 
differ so in their plumbing symbols, and the 
methods used for indicating plumbing work, that 
they lead to much confusion in the plumbing trade. 

24 




Fig. 61 

Elevation Symbol 

for Bubble 

Fountain 




USUAL TYPE OF 
PLUMBING PLAN 




AYOUT of Plumbing Systems.— At 

the present time, the location of the 
plumbing fixtures throughout the vari- 
ous floors of a proposed building is all 
that is shown to guide the plumber in 
the usual set of plumbing plans. In cities having 
plumbing codes, progress is carried a little further, 
and, to comply with the requirements of the build- 
ing department, a conventional set of drawings is 
prepared showing, in a general way, the layout of 
the drainage system. No effort is made in these 
drawings to show the water-supply pipes, or details 
of installation for groups of fixtures, nor is the 
layout of the drainage system all that could be de- 
sired. This part of the work is looked upon usually 
as a routine necessity, and anything which will be 
accepted by the building department is considered 
good enough for the purpose. The building de- 
partment, on the other hand, can only require the 
filing of plans showing a sanitary installation equal 
to the standard they set, and which is the lowest 

25 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



^-'Leader*! ^„^ ., ^^ , „ 
oJ 4. Soil 5tac_kB 




■4'L<i.adef*S ) 

^2" Leader 



Fig. 62 
Showing Usual Type of Plumbing Plan 



26 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

permissible. The niceties of design and economy 
of material are no more their concern than is the 
plainness or beauty of the walls of a building, so 
long as they are of the required strength and thick- 
ness. It follows, therefore, that the plan of a 
plumbing installation does not have to be of the 
best in order to be approved by the building de- 
partment, and having received their approval does 
not signify that improvement cannot be made in 
the layout, time and material cannot be saved, and 
that a fuller, more complete, and much clearer, 
plan and specification cannot be prepared than the 
one submitted. 

It is as necessary to prepare a separate plumb- 
ing plan as it is to make a set of drawings to show 
the heating plant, elevators or refrigeration system, 
and it would be just as logical to merely indicate 
the elevator shafts without showing details of the 
cars and enclosures as to simply indicate the loca- 
tion of the plumbing fixtures. No undertaking of 
any importance can be satisfactorily and economi- 
cally carried out, without first working the under- 
taking out thoroughly in the office, and preparing 
plans, and details to show and describe fully the 
various requirements; and plumbing work is no ex- 
ception from that general law. 

Example of the Usual Plumbing Plans.— The 
usual plumbing plan prepared as a guide for the 
estimator and contractor, consists, in addition to 
the floor plans showing the location of the various 
fixtures, of a conventional elevation, trying to show 
in a general way the principal features of the in- 

27 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



lU 



x\\\\\V\V\V\\\\V\\V^^V\\\^^^^^ 





l\V\V\V\VVVVV<\VVV\V^V^VV^^^^^^ 






28 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

stallation. In order to show all the fixtures, how- 
ever, they, as well as the entire drainage systems, 
are indicated as being on the one plane, regardless 
of the fact that they are actually located in differ- 
ent parts of the building. An example of a con- 
ventional set of plans, showing the layout of plumb- 
ing fixtures on the first, second and third floors, is 
illustrated in Figs. 62, 63 and 64, and shown in the 
sectional elevation, Fig. 65. These drawings may 
be accepted as fairly representative of plans used 
in practice and prepared by a sanitary engineer, or 
an architect, and show the incomplete and unsatis- 
factory method of planning the plumbing in build- 
ings. By examining the elevation, Fig. 65, care- 
fully it will be seen how impossible it is to gain a 
clear idea of the actual layout and run of the several 
pipes, and how worse than useless to attempt to 
find the quantity of material required by scaling 
the drawing, or arriving at a correct estimate of 
the kind and number of fittings by counting them. 
Furthermore, there is nothing on the set of draw- 
ings to indicate that water supply is a feature of 
the plumbing installation or that would enable the 
plumber to estimate the quantity of piping or labor 
of installing same; so far, then, as being a guide to 
the estimator is concerned, or as showing unmis- 
takably how the work is to be installed, this sec- 
tional drawing is utterly worthless, and might just 
as well have been omitted. For the purpose of 
filing with the Department of Health it might prove 
satisfactory, as indicating that all fixtures are 
trapped and vented and otherwise conform to the 
requirements of the code. But even such points 

29 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




•-SECTIONAL - ELEVATION -Or-PLUMBING -«• 



Fig. 65 
Showing Usual Sectional Elevation of Plumbing 



31 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

can better be shown by detail drawings, and the 
actual working drawings for the estimator and 
contractor can likewise be used for filing with the 
building department. Usually, plans of the fore- 
going description have a cellar or basement floor 
plan showing more or less clearly the various runs 
of pipe included in the house drain. In so far they 
do not differ much from the improved type of 
plumbing plans about to be described, for which 
reason the cellar plan of the foregoing set was 
omitted. 




32 




IMPROVED TYPE OF 
PLUMBING PLANS 




N the improved method of showing 
plumbing work on plans, the old 
method followed in designing the su- 
perstructure of the building, is adopt- 
ed. That is, general plans are pre- 
pared showing the layout and relation of the various 
parts, and special drawings are prepared to show 
details of various parts of the work. A full and 
complete set of drawings of a plumbing installation 
consists of the various floor plans from subbase- 
ment to roof, and one or more details showing the 
elevation of different lines. If the layout of two 
or more floors are alike, one print will suffice for 
these several floors, that fact being conspicuously 
printed on the sheet. Each floor plan should show 
clearly not only the rising lines of soil, waste and 
vent pipes, but the hot, cold and circulation risers 
as well, and where pipes are offset or cross under 
a floor that fact may be indicated by dotted lines. 
In preparing plumbing plans, it is not necessary to 
make as full and complete a set of drawings as for 

33 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

the general set of plans, for the plumbing plans 
will be interpreted in connection with the general 
plans and need be only an outline drawing showing 
the various walls and partitions, together with the 
location of elevator machinery, boilers, heating 
apparatus, refrigeration plant and other like ma- 
chinery in the cellar and subbasement, so that 
plumbing pipes will not be placed in locations where 
they would interfere with the installation of other 
apparatus. 

For cottages or other small buildings where the 
plumbing work is comparatively simple, the plumb- 
ing layout can be marked on the general plans 
without necessitating too many lines. 

Detail Drawings. — Wherever a number of 
plumbing fixtures are grouped together in a build- 
ing, the various soil, waste, vent and supply pipes 
will cross and recross one another in various direc- 
tions. If the location of the stacks, rising lines of 
supply pipes and fixtures is alone indicated, the 
work of arranging the pipes will devolve upon the 
workman who installs them. In complete plans, 
however, the arrangement, point and manner of 
crossing of the various pipes, the kind of fittings 
to use and the manner of supporting the stacks are 
studied out in the office, and details made showing 
the roughing-in of the various groups. Details of 
crooked stacks which require offsetting; the group- 
ing of pump, suction tank, meters and filters in the 
basement; house tanks and connections on the roof; 
manifold connections for water supply, and all 
other parts of the drainage system, should be stud- 

34 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

ied out in the office, the various proportions ascer- 
tained and the complete data worked up into large 
size details to serve as a guide in estimating on the 
work and installing the system. 

In order to make clear the requirements in this 
direction a set of plumbing plans and details, from 
practice, is here reproduced, both as a guide to 
others in preparing plumbing plans, and to show, 
by contrast with the usual method now generally 
followed, how much more full complete and satis- 
factory is the new method here recommended, over 
the old method with its incomplete data and con- 
ventional elevation. 

EXAMPLE OF NEW METHOD 
PLUMBING PLANS 

Floor Plans. — An example of new method 
plumbing plans is given in the three following 
illustrations. The building illustrated, which is a 
hotel in Cuba, is selected because it is simple and 
the various points about the work can be better 
explained than if the work were more complicated. 
There are many things about the work, however, 
which cannot be commended, but, in order to com- 
ply with the plumbing code of Havana, or the re- 
quirements of the owner, they had to be incorpo- 
rated or omitted, as the case may be. For instance, 
all the sewage from the entire building discharges 
into a/osa moura, which is a sort of septic tank, 
patterned after Louis Moura's Automatic Scaven- 
ger. Had this receptacle been omitted and the 

35 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

sewage discharged direct into the public sewer, 
the installation would have been simpler and better. 
Examining the plumbing work in detail, it will 
be observed that, by keeping in mind the symbols 
used to indicate plumbing, every part of the instal- 
lation is made perfectly clear. The drainage sys- 
tem, it will be noted in Fig. 66, is made of cast-iron 
hub-and-spigot pipe, which is represented by two 
parallel lines, and the hubs marked at suitable 
intervals. Observe, also, the directness with which 
all the branches are run, and how they all converge 
toward the outlet to the main drain. Where rising 
stacks are to be installed, they are indicated by 
circles, and the size and designation of the stacks 
are marked. Designating stacks by letter, as A, 
B, C, or by numbers, will be found convenient for 
reference at any time, and for detailing, as will be 
explained later on. The locations of cleanouts are 
clearly indicated, as are the number and location of 
floor drains. Altogether, the horizontal part of the 
drainage system is so fully laid out that an esti- 
mator can easily scale the drawings and find out 
what quantity of each size of pipe will be required 
for this part of the work, and by counting can de- 
termine the number and kind of fittings that will 
be required. There is no basement or cellar below 
this ground fioor, so that the drain pipes are buried 
in the earth. If located above ground, supports 
would be shown in their proper places. Rain lead- 
ers are not indicated on the drawings because they 
discharge separately on the surface of the ground 
or into another system of drains. 

86 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

After the drainage system is marked on the 
plan, if the building be a large one, where a large 
quantity of water will be used, the sizes of the 
various branches and of the main drain should be 
calculated and marked alongside of the pipes. In 
ordinary cottage buildings, or other moderate sized 
dwellings, 3-inch stacks of soil pipe may be used, 
and 3-inch main drains, where rain water is ex- 
cluded. If, however, the rain leaders are connec- 
ted to the drainage system, the main drain should 
be 4-inches in diameter. 

Before laying out the ground work it is, of 
course, necessary to locate the points where the 
stacks of soil and waste pipe will be installed. 
This will be done by finding the most out of the 
way places in which the .stacks can be run to the 
various toilet or bath rooms, where at the same 
time they will be convenient for roughing-in the 
fixtures, and locating them in such places. If there 
is some latitude in this respect, that is, if the stack 
of soil pipe can be run equally well in one of several 
places, that location should be selected, which will 
permit of best arrangement of fixtures with the 
least expenditure of time and material. Having 
the rising points of the various stacks, the plumb- 
ing layout should be drawn to give the various 
drains the most direct runs possible. In drawing 
the drain pipes it should be remembered to have 
the hubs of the pipes on the up-grade ends of the 
lengths. 

When the drainage system is marked on plans, 
there ends, usually, all effort to show the plumbing 
system. The water supply, which is of equal, if 

37 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

not greater, importance than the drainage system 
from an engineering standpoint, is so seldom 
shown that it might be stated as never being in- 
cluded. Indeed, it is only when plumbing plans 
are prepared by a sanitary engineer that the water 
supply systems are indicated. The object of 
plumbing plans, however, is to show fully what 
materials are to be furnished and what labor per- 
formed, and that cannot be satisfactorily done if 
the greater part of the work is omitted from the 
plans and dismissed from the specifications with 
the brief statement that * 'each fixture will be sup- 
plied with cold water or with hot and cold water, 
as required. '' To obtain satisfactory results on a 
big installation, not only must the system to be 
adopted be fully studied out and marked on draw- 
ings, but the sizes of the various pipes should be 
carefully calculated, so that they will be sufficient- 
ly large for their several purposes. In the present 
instance, the hot water must be drawn from the 
hot water faucet at each fixture when the faucet is 
opened. That necessitates a circulation pipe, and 
for convenience in installing the system, as well as 
to have the entire system controlled from a central 
point, manifold headers are installed and each set 
of risers is piped direct from the manifolds. In 
order that each pipe may be distinguished from the 
others and traced from beginning to end, the hot, 
cold and circulation pipes are indicated by different 
kinds of lines, and the key to each may be found 
marked on the bottom of the drawing. The service 
pipe can be traced from where it enters the build- 
ing, through the filter, meters, and into the suction 

38 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



■^'Stac/r-S^ 




HOT WATER. 

- CIKCULWION. 

- COLD WATn^. 

-- Pla-h or- Plumbing • Installation '- 'Servicc. 

- IN TffE - 

- Hotel i5antiago, - Havana , Cvjba - 

• J cJ.COSQKOVC - vSAMITARJ-'EWQlNEEt^ - .SCAIX: ife 

pHILADCLPHlft,PA. 
Fig. 66 

A New Method Ground Floor Plan 

39 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

tank. From the suction tank it can be traced 
through the pump to the pump riser to tank on 
roof. In short, so fully are the water pipes marked 
on the plan that, by scaling them, an estimator can 
determine the exact amount of each size of pipe 
and the number and kind of fitting which will be 
required for the horizontal runs, and can calculate 
quite accurately the amount of work required to 
install them. Besides the drainage system and 
water pipes, the water filter, water meters, suction 
tank, pump, water heater and hot water tank are 
shown in their respective places on the drawing. 
It might be well to point out here that manifold 
headers would not be used under all conditions and 
in different types of buildings than the one under 
consideration. Conditions might be such that in- 
stead of separate connections to each rising line 
from a manifold header large mains might be run 
instead, and branches taken off from the mains for 
the different riser connections. After the runs of 
the various water pipes are marked on the drawing, 
their sizes should be calculated, regardless of the 
system of piping used, so they will be ample for 
their several purposes. At the same time the size 
and kind of service connection must be taken into 
consideration and determined upon. If the service 
pipe will be over 2 inches in diameter, the matter 
should be taken up with the water company to see 
if a special fitting will be inserted in the water 
main, or whether a multiple connection with the 
equivalent of water taps in the main will have to 
be resorted to. Having determined, the connection 
can be fully covered in the specifications. 

40 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




fioTEL •Santiago,' ffAVANA. Cuba - j-^-coasRovE-vSftViTARY-EKg'i^- 
PHi LADELPmA pa. 
Fig. 67 
New Method Upper-floor Plan 

41 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

The first, second and third floor plans for this 
building are all similar, so that one sheet. Fig. 67, 
answers for the three floors. All that is indicated 
in this sheet, outside of the fixtures, are the loca- 
tion of the various soil, waste and vent stacks and 
the hot- water and cold-water and circulation risers. 
It is useless to try to indicate the layout of pipes 
for toilet rooms or bath rooms on the general floor 
plan, so the best practice to follow is the method 
here recommended of simply showing the arrange- 
ment of the various fixtures, and show the method 
of running the pipes to them on a separate detail 
drawing. It will be observed that no effort was 
made to fill in the plans completely, such as show- 
ing doors and other structural details that have no 
relation whatever to the plumbing work, but that 
simply an outline drawing was made, showing the 
location of the various walls and partitions, partic- 
ularly those forming the rooms where plumbing 
fixtures are located. Between the two adjoining 
bath rooms it will be observed that extra wide 
partitions are shown, so that all the soil, waste and 
vent pipes can be concealed therein. There is no 
good reason for defacing a building by running ex- 
posed a network of plumbing pipes, or by provid- 
ing boxes with removable covers for their recep- 
tion. Once the drainage system, in buildings of 
moderate height, is made tight, if constructed of 
suitable materials, it will remain so and can be en- 
closed between the walls of a partition and plas- 
tered over. The supply pipes, however, should be 
exposed, or accessible. So it is that in the plan 
under discussion the soil, waste and vent stacks are 

42 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



ier7(,,^ 




Pi/fnp. 

Supja/y. 

Relief 



"■ Hotel • vSantjagO; - Havaha .- cuba .-^ 

— >- J.jr.CoaSHPVE - JAHTTARY-ENG'R. — • 

Fig. 68 — 

New Method Roof Plan 



43 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

shown concealed inside of partitions while the sup- 
ply pipes are run in one of the bath rooms at the 
head of the tub. 

The fourth floor of this building, Fig. 68, is 
partly roof garden, or open-air-dining-room. In 
the covered portions the location of stacks of soil, 
waste and vent pipes, rising lines of hot water, cold 
water and circulation pipes, and the kind and loca- 
tion of fixtures are shown. In the open part of the 
floor or roof the locations of vent pipes are indica- 
ted. In addition to the usual materials and fixtures 
shown on this plan, the house tank is shown in 
dotted lines in one angle of the building in the 
location it will occupy above the roof of that por- 
tion of the structure. 




44 




PLUMBING DETAILS 




EXAMPLES OF NEW METHOD 
PLUMBING DETAILS 

F, instead of trying to show all the 
vertical stacks, branches and fixtures 
in a building on one conventional ele- 
vation, as in the former method shown 
in Fig. 65, a separate detail of each 
stack of soil pipe be made, or each stack that dif- 
fers sufficiently from the other stacks to make a 
separate detail advisable, a clear, complete layout 
of the work will be had. For instance, take stack 
D, on the plan of the ground floor, Fig. 66. Every 
foot of pipe and each fitting in the horizontal drains 
can be counted up to the point where the stack 
connects into the horizontal drain. If, now, a de- 
tail of that stack, such as shown in Fig. 69, be 
made, the pipe, fittings, lead, oakum and hangers 
required to complete the stack through the roof can 
be easily ascertained. Owing to the layout of the 
various bathrooms, the detail of this stack will an- 
swer for all other stacks within the building, with 
the exception that the other stacks for outside tiers 

45 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



D€tait ef stacks 
•for otd-t&icft "htfS 



of bathrooms will not require 
the offset on the third floor of 
the building and the stacks for 
inside tiers of bathrooms will 
not require offsets either above 
the third floors or between the 
ceiling space of the flrst floor. 
This latter offset is made neces- 
sary for the outside tiers of 
bathrooms by reason of an ar- 
cade extending around two 
sides of the building and im- 
mediately under where the 
tiers of bathrooms are located. 
In designing the plum.bing for 
a building the various stacks 
which differ from one another 
should be drawn out in detail, 
as indicated in the illustration 
and marked as Detail of Stack 
A, B, or whatever line it is 
meant to represent. That is 
the reason it is convenient to 
letter the various rising lines, 
so that they can easily be 
traced by referring to the cor- 
responding detail of the line. 
In some installations the 
roughing-in for the toilet rooms 
on various floors can be shown 
in connection with the vertical 
stack, but owing to bathrooms 
Detail of Soil and Vent stack being located on opposite sides 




S'fioum FLoon. 



46 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




Fig. 70 

Detail Plan of Bathrooms 

47 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



of this stack, such a detail would not be practicable. 

The way the horizontal piping on the ground 

floor and the vertical stacks are to be run has now 

been shown, but no indication has yet been made 



/P^fcnc^ 






"WW/. 



r^i 



■ih" 



-2' 



tQEt^D^ 



=?! 



■/z 




~/i 



m 









Fig. 71 
Detail Elevation of Lead Work in Bath Rooms 

of how the roughing-in of the bathrooms is to be 
done, and without which there would be an incom- 
pleteness of the plumbing details. The roughing- 
in of the bathrooms is shown in plan in Ffe. 70, and 

48 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



in elevation in Fig. 71. These two drawings com- 
plete the details of the drainage system, and, by- 
scaling them, the materials required can be accu- 
rately determined and the work necessary to install 
the materials estimated. 

Up to the present time only the drainage pipes 
have been shown above the ground floor plan. The 
fixtures are all to be sup- 
plied with hot and cold 
water, however, and some 
indication must be given 
the prospective estimator 
and contractor how these 
pipes are to be run. The 
rising lines of hot water, 
cold water and the circula- 
tion pipes are indicated on 
the various floor plans, and 
the supplies to the various ^\^^^^ 
bathrooms are taken off as ^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
shown in the detail. Fig. 
72. A cross fitting is 
placed both in the hot 
water and in the cold water 
pipes and turned so that 
one branch can pass 
through the partition to 
supply water to the adjoining bathroom, while the 
other branch supplies water to the bathroom in 
which the risers are located. Escutcheons are pro- 
vided where the pipes pass through the wall or 
ceiling, and the supply to each bathroom is con- 
trolled by means of an angle valve. The layout of 

49 




Fig. 72 

Detail of Connections to Water 

Pipes in Bathrooms 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

water pipes in the bathrooms is shown in Fig. 73, 
which completes the details of water supply pipes 
so fully and completely that they can be traced 
from where the main enters the building to where 
they end at the several fixtures. 

The drainage system and water supply pipes 
are not the only parts of the plumbing system 



i^-^ 



^ 



int 



t 



^ 



^ 



-rioor Plates . 



^Ceilir^ PIo.te5. 



Fig. 73 
Detail of Water Pipes in Bathrooms 

which require detailing, however. The connec- 
tions to the house tank and various other apparatus 
should be shown also. Connections and fittings for 
the house tank in the present example are shown 
in plan in Fig. 74 and in sectional elevation in Fig. 
75. Before the tank can be detailed, the size of 

50 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

tank required must be calculated, as well as the 
size of pipe required for the pump. Having de- 
termined the size of tank, the size, weight and 
length of beams required for its support must be 
carefully worked out, so there will be no danger of 
the tank failing on account of its poor support. 
The condition and thickness of the walls on which 



Sx/^'x^-^' Gran!-ft Cajb'Sfom. 



B^nibfyino bite- 




/S'^-^2 S-fQndaytf T deom iB'-ion^ 



Fig. 74 
Plan Detail of Water Tank 

the tank will rest must further be taken into ac- 
count, and the exposure to winds as well as the 
wind pressure will enter into the load that must be 
supported in addition to the dead weight of tank 
and water. When the data required is all worked 
out, the various sizes and dimensions can be marked 
on the details. In many buildings which require a 

51 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



specially large water supply, special provision must 
be made for supporting the house tank. 

If the water supply is for a factory, or other 
type of low building, not many stories in height, a 
special tower for the support of the water tank 
may be erected in the yard, or a stand pipe may be 
built for the purpose. In other kinds of buildings, 
extra thick walls may be required to support the 
tank, or instead, reinforcing abutments, steel frame 






'Ovrerffo 



•^ Oi/crTJaw. 




Fig. 75 
Elevation Detail of House Tank 

work or some other form of device may be resorted 
to. In some cases a rectangular tower of masonry 
is made part of the structure, having been design- 
ed especially as a support for the house tank. 

In Fig. 76 is shown in elevation a view of the 
manifold headers, the hot, cold and circulation 
water supply connections, valves, drain pipes and 
hot water and circulation connections to the hot 

52 



Plumbing Plans and Specification 



fe 1^ 




Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



water tank. In Fig. 77 will be found an end ele- 
vation of the manifold headers and the various 
connections. The pump connections, suction tanks, 
meters and filter are so clearly shown on the plans 
and so fully covered in the specifications that de- 
tails are not required for them, al- 
though, ordinarily, details would be 
desirable. In the case of the plans 
under discussion comparatively few 
details were necessary, chiefly owing 
to the fact that the bath rooms are 
practically duplicates of one another so 
that one set of details answered for 
the entire building. In other build- 
ings, however, where there are numer- 
ous groups of fixtures each differing 
from the others, a complete set of de- 
tails, covering the drainage, vent, hot 
and cold water pipes should be pre- 
h pared for each group. It might be 
fe^^^ possible in some cases to combine the 
End^Detliiof water-supply details, and drainage- 
Manifoid pipe details for each group on one set 
of drawings. When, however, that would compli- 
cate the detail to such an extent that it would lack 
in clearness, the better plan would be to make 
separate details of both the water supply and the 
drainage work, as was done in the present example. 




54 




DRAWING PLUMBING PLANS 




the calling. 



EFORE a designer can satisfactorily 
plan the plumbing for a building, he 
must know fully how plumbing work 
should be done, and be perfectly famil- 
iar with the principals and practice of 
It stands to reason that a success can- 
not be made of the effort, if he does not know how 
or where the pipes should be run, cannot figure or 
otherwise determine their several capacities, and 
does not understand the principles of operation of 
the numerous devices used in plumbing. He should 
keep posted on new improvements as they are 
placed on the market, and be able to judge accu- 
rately of their value from the principles on which 
they are constructed and the function they are to 
fulfill; and, in the matter of fixtures, he should be 
informed, so that he can select the right kind for 
the several different classes of buildings. 

The idea of plumbing plans and details, is to 
work out everything in the office, and put it on 
paper in such a clear and simple manner that an 
ordinary workman can follow it without effort, yet 
at the same time so fully, that nothing will be 

55 



Plumbing- Plans and Specifications 

omitted or overlooked by the estimator and con- 
tractor. 

Framing for Plumbing Pipes. — The runs of all 
pipes both large and small, should be fully laid out, 
before work is commenced on a building, so that 
as the carpenters proceed with the framing of a 
building, they can frame around where pipes will 
be located, and leave spaces for the lead roughing 
in the toilet and bath rooms, following details fur- 
nished by the architect. This is a matter entirely 
overlooked in frame buildings, with the result that 
in every bathroom, cutting and framing must be 
done to accommodate the soil and waste pipes, after 
the building is practically finished. A little care 
and forethought on the part of the designer in fur- 
nishing details of the framing around the bath- 
rooms for the carpenter would obviate all after 
hacking and hewing, and be not only more econ- 
omical but likewise more satisfactory all around. 

The importance of making provision for the 
plumbing pipes become almost a necessity in rein- 
forced concrete buildings, for, if openings are not 
left where pipes have to pass from floor to floor, 
the cutting necessitated will not only increase the 
cost of running the stacks from 50% to 75% but is 
liable furthermore to weaken the structure by cut- 
ting through some of the reinforcing rods. The 
aim of the designer therefore should be to study 
out before hand, just where each run and stack of 
pipe will be located, then furnish details for the 
carpenter or mason as the case might be, to guide 
him in making provision for the pipes. 

56 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

Arranging Fixtures in the Bathroom.— Before 

the location of stacks can be accurately determined, 
it will be found necessary to lay out in the several 
bathrooms just where each fixture will be placed. 
Ordinarily this is done by drawing in with pencil a 
tentative arrangement, then if not satisfactory, 
rearranging them and trying again, keeping at that 
practice until a satisfactory arrangement is secured. 
A quicker and much easier method is to make a set 
of fixture symbols, drawn to the scale of the plan, 
color them with india ink, and with these little 
movable pieces quickly shift them from place to 
place until the right arrangement is found, then 
draw in permanently on the plans. Little tem- 
plets of this kind, for the three usual fixtures in a 
bathroom, water closet, bath tub, and lavatory, can 
easily be made in i-inch and 4-inch scales, and be 
kept handy for ready use at anytime. 

Scale Drawings of Bathrooms.— The symbols 
given in a preceeding chapter are intended princi- 
pally for scales of i-inch or larger. The general 
outline of the fixtures can be used for drawings to 
scale as low as i-inch per foot, but much of the 
detail will have to be omitted in such cases. In 
order that the difference may be seen comparative- 
ly, two plans of a* bathroom are here reproduced, 
one. Fig. 78, being drawn to J-inch scale, and the 
other. Fig. 79, drawn to J-inch scale. It will be 
observed that the only difference between the sym- 
bols used in the two drawings lies in the fact that 
at the smaller scale the trimmings have been omit- 
ted from the bath tub and lavatory. 

57 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




"^Sca^le V= 1 Foot 



Fig 78 
i4-Scale Drawing of Bathroom 



58 



P 1 u m b ing Plans and Specifications 



i 







o 






y 

^ "Sea."!© '/^"= IFbotr- 

Fig. 79 
H-Scale Drawing- of Bathroom 



59 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

Photographic Prints for the Contractor.— For 

estimating, the contractor will require a full and 
complete set of drawings made to scale. For use 
as a guide installing the work however, all that is 
necessary is something to show the layout and runs 
of the various stacks and branches, and the loca- 
tion and arrangement of various fixtures. This in- 
formation of course can be had from the plans, but 
large scale drawings are inconvenient to handle in 
a building, and soon become worn and the lines 
obliterated by use. A better practice is to provide 
the foreman with photographic prints of the trac- 
ings, which need not be larger than 8x10 inches 
for a building of the largest size. These prints 
can be fastened to a board, or easily rolled up and 
carried in the pocket, while the cost of making 
them is less than that for full size blue prints. 




60 




PLUMBING SPECIFICATIONS 



CHAPTER VI 



WRITING PLUMBING SPECIFICATIONS 




UNCTION of Specifications. -Plumb- 
ing plans show only the quantity, ex- 
tent and layout of the work, but give 
no indication as to the character of the 
goods to be used or the quality or make 
of the fixtures; consequently a description or speci- 
fication must accompany the plans to make clear 
the requirements not shown or indicated. For 
instance, where water-closets are shown on plans, 
in the absence of an express description of what 
kind of closet is to be used, any fixture, from the 
cheapest hopper to the most expensive syphon jet, 
would comply with the requirements. 

In the case of the foregoing plans of a hotel, 
used as an example, there is nothing on the draw- 
ings to show the location of the ground work, or 
grade at which the pipes will be run. The symbols 
show that cast-iron hub and spigot pipe is to be 

61 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



used, but give no indication as to its weight or 
grade, whether coated or uncoated, or how the 
lengths will be made tight. Nothing is shown 
either on the plans or details which will throw any 
light upon the manner in which pipes, both the 
horizontal drains buried in the ground and the 
vertical stacks of soil, waste and vent pipes, will be 
supported; how they will be made tight where they 
pass through the roof; what means will be em- 
ployed to connect lead pipe to the cast-iron stacks; 
the manner or kind of yard drains to use, and 
whether the drainage system is to be water and 
gas tight. A "fosa moura'' is shown, but there is 
nothing to indicate what it is made of, how con- 
structed, or by what contractor the work will be 
performed. 

By referring to the following specifications, 
which were prepared to accompany the plans, all 
these points are made clear, and by studying the 
layout on the plans, carefully, in connection with 
the specifications, it will be found that there is no 
question which can arise regarding the system of 
drain pipes or water supply that is not answered in 
the specifications. That is the crucial test in speci- 
fication writing. If there is any uncertainty as to 
what material will be required to install the plumb- 
ing system, or any doubt as to the quality of mater- 
ials or method of installing the work, something is 
lacking either on the drawings or in the specifica- 
tions, and the layout should be studied until the 
lacking element is discovered and incorporated 
where it belongs. 

62 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

The layout of pipes in the bathrooms shows 
unmistakably the two-pipe system of plumbing 
with syphon traps, and indicates in what manner 
the several pipes are to be run; also, their several 
sizes. There is nothing on the drawings to show 
what weight of lead pipe will be used, how the 
joints shall be made and how the closets and slop 
sinks will be connected to the drainage system. 
These several points, however, are fully covered in 
the specifications, so that, so far as the drainage 
system is concerned, there is nothing which an 
estimator or contractor cannot learn by a reference 
to the plans and specifications, and nothing is left 
to be done * ^according to the direction of the archi- 
tect,'' a provision which cannot intelligently be 
estimated on. 

It will be observed that, while the water-sup- 
ply pipes can be traced on the plans from where 
the service pipe enters the building to where the 
various fixture branches are connected to the fix- 
tures, there is nothing on the drawings to indicate 
whether the pipes and fittings shall be iron, copper, 
brass or nickel-steel; what weight of pipes shall be 
used; how the joints shall be made; where the pipes 
on the ground floor will be located; what sizes shall 
be used; how they will be supported and at what 
grades. Meters and a filter are shown, but the 
kinds or makes are not indicated. The suction 
tank is outlined, but whether of wood, iron or other 
material cannot be learned from the plans, nor can 
the size, capacity and make of pump, hot-water 
tank or water heater. Valves are indicated, but 
the kind of valves to use cannot be ascertained 

63 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

from the plans, nor can the kind of house tank to 
be used on the roof be fully told from the details, 
although a fair idea may be obtained. All this in- 
formation which is lacking in the drawings should 
be incorporated in the specifications, and in the 
following example of specifications which accom- 
panied the plans, these points are fully covered, as 
may be seen by a careful reading. The fact can- 
not be too forcibly pointed out that a contractor 
estimates only on what is shown on the drawings 
or mentioned in the specifications. He is justified 
in believing that the one who laid out the plumbing 
plans and wrote the specifications was competent, 
knew what he wanted, and had incorporated every- 
thing in his drawings and specifications; and if 
anything which might be considered essential to 
the work be omitted, he is justified in believing 
that the omission was intentional, and in estimating 
accordingly. 

If, however, there is an indication either in the 
plans or specifications which leads the estimator to 
believe that something was intended, although not 
fully mentioned, he is put upon inquiry, and should 
make sure before proceeding with his tender. The 
architect, on the other hand, when called upon to 
verbally explain something in either the drawings 
or specifications which is not clear, or which when 
construed together do not explain the point, must 
know that something is lacking and should correct 
the plans and specifications to make clear the lack- 
ing or ambiguous requirements. 

64 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

EXAMPLE OF A PLUMBING 
SPECIFICATION 



SPECIFICATIONS 

For the Plumbing Installation in the Hotel Santiago, Located 
in the City of Havana, on the Island of Cuba 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 

Interpretation of Plans and Specifications. — 

The following specifications are intended to de- 
scribe the material required and the work to be 
performed installing the plumbing work in the 
Hotel Santiago, Havana, Cuba. The specifications 
are intended to be interpreted in conjunction with 
a set of drawings hereto attached, and if anything 
is shown on the drawings that is not mentioned in 
the specifications, or is mentioned in the specifica- 
tions but not shown in the drawings, it is to be in- 
cluded in the work the same as though both men- 
tioned in the specifications and shown in the draw- 
ings. Furthermore, any material or labor obviously 
required to complete the work shall be included in 
these specifications as fully as though mentioned 
in the specifications and shown on the plans, and 
such work and material shall be of the same grade 
or quality as the parts actually shown and specified. 

Drawings. — The drawings shall consist of three 
separate sheets showing the floor plans of the build- 
ing, and another sheet showing details of the 
installation. The drawings shall be numbered con- 
secutively from one to four, and shall, together 

65 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

with the specifications, be signed for identification 
by the owner of the building and the plumbing 
contractor. Sheet No. 1 is a plan of the ground 
floor of the building, showing the general arrange- 
ment of the supply pipes, pumps, meters, suction 
tank, water-heating apparatus and the house drain. 
Sheet No. 2 is a plan of the first, second and third 
floors, showing the general arrangement of the fix- 
tures in the several bathrooms, and indicating the 
location of various hot-water, cold-water, circula- 
tion pipes, and the soil, waste and vent stacks. 
Sheet No. 3 is a plan of the fourth or top floor, 
showing the location of the various kitchen and 
scullery fixtures, and the general arrangement of 
the toilet rooms, as well as the location of the sup- 
ply, waste, soil and vent lines. Sheet No. 4* shows 
the details of various parts of the plumbing instal- 
lation. 

The locations of fixtures on the ground floor 
are not shown on sheet No. 1, but are shown on 
the architect's drawings, which must be read in 
connection with the plumbing plans. 

Permits and Plumbing Laws. — ^The plumbing 
contractor shall pay for and secure all permits to 
open streets, connect with the public sewer, con- 
nect to the water supply or perform any other work 
or operation connected with his contract and for 
which a fee is exacted; he shall also pay for tap- 
ping the water main, and shall comply with all 
municipal or general laws in the city of Havana or 
of the Island of Cuba, which bear upon or affect 

*The separate details illustrated in Chapter III were all included on Sheet 4. 

66 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



his work; and, in so far as they are applicable to 
the plumbing work in the Hotel Santiago, the laws 
and regulations governing the sanitary installations 
of plumbing, known as Decree No. 255, is made 
part of this specification. 

Number and Location of Fixtures. — There 
shall be a total of 282 fixtures throughout the build- 
ing, located where shown on the plans. They shall 
be distributed on the various floors as follows: 

2 urinals "] 

2 water-closets 
1 lavatory 
1 urinal 
1 water-closet 
1 lavatory 
Ground floor ^ 2 meters 
1 filter 

1 suction tank 
1 pump 

1 hot water tank 
1 water heater 



For public use 



For private use 



- For general service 



First 
floor 



Third 
floor 



I 15 Total 

28 bath tubs 
28 lavatories 
28 water-closets 

84 Total 

28 bath tubs 
28 lavatories 
28 water-closets 

84 Total 



Second 
floor 



Fourth 
floor 



28 bath tubs 
28 lavatories 
28 water-closets 

84 Total 

1 group of 4 sinks 

2 slop sinks 
1 bath tub 

3 lavatories 

3 water-closets 
1 grease trap 
1 house tank 

. 15 Total 



67 



PlumlDing Plans and Specifications 

Superintendence and Inspection. — The con- 
tractor shall give the work his personal superin- 
tendence from time to time, and shall keep on the 
premises a foreman who will be authorized to re- 
present him during his absence. The owner, or 
his representative, the architect, also the sanitary- 
officer for the city of Havana, shall have access to 
the work and material at all hours during the work- 
day for the purpose of examination or inspection, 
and no work shall be concealed from sight until it 
has been passed upon by the sanitary inspector. 
The materials for this installation shall be strictly 
as called for in the specifications, and the work 
shall be put together exactly as shown on the plans 
and detail drawings. If there is any doubt in the 
contractor's mind as to how certain work shall be 
done, detail drawings will be furnished him as a 
guide. All exposed screw piping must be put to- 
gether so as to conceal the threads, and tool marks 
will not be permitted on any exposed material, fix- 
tures or fittings. 

Beginning and Termination of Work. — The 

contractor shall begin work on the installation of 
the plumbing within a reasonable time after sign- 
ing the contract, and shall cooperate with the other 
contractors so as not to delay the completion of the 
building. 

Changes from the Plans. — ^No material devia- 
tion from the plans and specification shall be made 
in the installation of the work without the written 
consent of the owner or architect. The owner, 
however, shall have the privilege of ordering ad- 

68 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

ditional work from time to time without in an 3^ way 
affecting the validity of the plans, specifications or 
contract. The value of the work so ordered shall 
in each case be agreed upon beforehand, and shall 
be stipulated in the written order, which shall 
constitute the contractor's authority for proceeding 
with the work. Should an alteration from the 
original plan reduce the amount of labor or mater- 
ial, the value of such saving shall be decided upon 
by the owner and contractor and the amount stipu- 
lated in the written order, as before stated. 

THE DRAINAGE SYSTEM 

Excavating.— The contractor shall dig all 
trenches, pits or cisterns required for the execution 
of his work, and, when the installation has been 
passed by the sanitary inspector^ all trenches and 
other openings shall be refilled and left in as good 
condition as before they were opened. The con- 
tractor shall be responsible for all damage or injury 
arising from accidents caused by negligence or 
carelessness in not properly safeguarding his work. 

Material for Drainage System. — The contract- 
or shall provide all pipe, fittings, supports, pack- 
ings and lead for the drainage system, and shall 
install it according to the layout shown on the 
drawings. The pipes shall all be of cast iron of 
the hub-and-spigot pattern, sound, cylindrical and 
smooth, free from sand holes, cracks or other de- 
fects, and covered on the inside and outside with a 
coating of asphaltum. All pipes buried in the 
ground shall be of the grade known to commerce 

69 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

as extra heavy, and all vertical stacks of soil, waste 
and vent pipe shall be of the grade known to com- 
merce as standard. 

Standard and extra-heavy cast-iron pipe shall 
not be less than the following weights per lineal 
foot: 



Inside diameter 
of pipe 


Average weight per lineal foot, 
including hubs 


Standard 


Extra heavy 


2 inches 

3 " 

4 '* 

5 '* 

6 " 


3| 


5J pounds 

9i '* 
13 
17 
20 



All fittings shall be coated on the inside and 
outside with asphaltum, and shall correspond in 
weight to the pipes with which they are connected. 
The entire horizontal portion of the house drain 
shown on the ground-floor plan shall be buried in 
the earth below the floor. 

Fall of Drains. — All pipes in the house-drain- 
age system shall be laid at grade to produce 
throughout a uniform velocity. Pipes of the sever- 
al diameters shall be laid at grades not less than 
those specified in the following table: 



Diameter of pipe 

2 inches 

3 '* 

4 " 

5 " 

6 " 



Fall per foot 



f inch 

2 tc 

z 

3 << 

TT7 



70 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

Joints for Cast-iron Pipe. — All joints in the 
cast-iron pipe shall be made water-tight with picked 
oakum and pure pig lead, well calked into the hubs. 
One pound of lead shall be used at each joint for 
each inch in diameter of the pipe. 

Gleanouts. — ^A cleanout branch shall be pro- 
vided in the house drain wherever indicated on the 
plans, and a cleanout plug shall be calked into such 
fittings. All cleanouts shall have iron bodies with 
brass screw plugs threaded with standard pipe 
threads, and shall have a square or hexagonal nut 
on the top at least IJ inches square and 1-inch high. 
The plugs, when finally screwed into the ferrule, 
shall be made up with graphite in the joints. 

Support for Cast-Iron Pipe. — Cast-iron pipe 
which is buried in the ground shall have a firm 
bearing along its entire length on undisturbed 
earth. In case the trenches have been dug below 
the proper grades, the pipes shall be supported 
every 10 feet on bricks, firmly bedded on undis- 
turbed earth. The vertical stack of soil, waste and 
vent pipes throughout the building shall be secure- 
ly fastened to the walls and floors at each tier of 
beams by means of Netherland split-ring hangers. 
At the foot of each rising line of cast-iron pipe a 
brick or concrete foundation shall be provided for 
the stack to rest on. 

Floor Drains. — There shall be furnished and 
set in the pump room and in the patio, where shown 
on the ground-floor plan, a 3-inch Mueller floor 
drain and backwater trap combined, properly con- 
nected to the house drain. 

71 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

Connections to Cast-Iron Pipe.-— Connections 
between lead pipe and cast-iron pipe shall be made 
by means of brass ferrules and wiped-solder joints. 
The ferrules shall be bell shaped, at least J-inch 
thick, 4 inches long, and shall be securely calked 
into the hubs of the cast-iron pipe or fittings. 

All connections to the horizontal house drain 
shall be made by means of Y fittings, and changes 
in the direction of the pipe shall be made with i, J 
or long-sweep i bends. On the vertical stack, con- 
nection may be made with TY branches. T 
branches will be permitted only on vent pipes. 

Traps. — Each fixture in the building shall be 
separately trapped with a J-S syphon trap placed 
as close as possible to the fixture. All traps, with 
the exception of the water-closet traps, shall be 
vented by special IJ-inch vent pipes connected to 
the trap near the crown and the other end connect- 
ed to a vent stack extending through the roof, or 
connecting to the soil stack above the highest fix- 
ture. Each water-closet shall be vented through a 
2-inch pipe connecting the lead bend below the 
floor to the vent stack. The vent pipe for each 
group of fixtures shall be connected to the vent 
stack at a point above the outlet of the highest fix- 
ture in the group. The group of sinks in the kitch- 
en shall be provided with one Tucker, size 3, paint- 
ed, cast-iron, water-cooled grease trap, properly 
connected to the waste pipe, and the , chilling 
chamber connected to the cold water supply to the 
sinks. 

72 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

System of Piping. — The drainage system shall 
be what is known as the 2-pipe system, which shall 
consist of a special vent stack accompanying each 
soil or waste stack. The vent stack shall be con- 
nected to the soil or waste stack by means of a Y 
fitting below the lowest fixture discharging into 
the stack, and may be connected to the soil or 
waste stack above the highest fixture discharging 
into it, or it may extend separately through the 
roof. All soil and waste stacks shall be extended 
5 feet above the roof. 

Flashings. — ^Where soil, waste, vent or supply 
pipes pass through the roof of the building, the 
joints shall be made tight by means of 8-pound 
sheet lead flashings, which shall extend at least 6 
inches on all sides of the pipe, and shall be made 
water-tight where they come in contact with the 
roof. 

Fosa Moura. — ^The plumbing contractor shall 
furnish all material and labor to build, where 
shown on the plan, a ''maximum'' * 'fosa moura" 
according to the requirements of the Havana Sani- 
tary Code. The fosa moura shall be circular in 
form, 8 feet in diameter, 6 feet 6 inches deep, and 
shall have walls and bottom of brick, the walls 8 
inches thick and the bottom 4 inches thick. The 
walls and bottom of the fosa moura shall be made 
water-tight by means of a coating of Portland 
cement mortar 1-inch thick mixed in the proportion 
of one of cement to two of sand. The top of the 
fosa moura shall be arched over with bricks laid 
in cement mortar, or shall have a deck of rein- 

73 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

forced concrete, with a 20-inch diameter air-tight 
manhole and cover securely set in place. 

Lead Pipe. — The use of lead pipe shall be re- 
stricted to the short branches of soil, waste and 
vent pipes required for the roughing-in of the 
bathrooms. No lead pipe smaller in diameter than 
IJ-inches shall be used, and all pipe shall be equal 
to the grade known to commerce as D and shall be 
of the, following weights: IJ-inch pipe, 3 pounds 
per foot; 2-inch pipe, 4 pounds per foot; 3-inch 
pipe, 6 pounds per foot, and 4-inch pipe, 8 pounds 
per foot. Lead bends for closets and slop sinks, 
or straight connections where bends are not used, 
will be provided with corrugations to compensate 
for shrinkage or settlement of stacks or building. 
All connections between lead pipes or between lead 
pipe and brass ferrules shall be made by means of 
solder wiped joints. 

Tests. — The entire drainage system within the 
building shall be tested by the plumbing contractor 
in the presence of the sanitary inspector of the city 
of Havana. Two tests shall be applied to the sys- 
tem; the first shall be a water test and shall be 
applied by closing all outlets below the roof and 
filling the drain, stacks and branches, until the 
water overflows from the vent pipes above the roof. 
All leaks or defects shall be made perfectly sound 
and tight and the work shall not be passed until 
the entire system remains full of water for two 
hours without leaking. 

After the fixtures are all set and the traps 
sealed with water, a smoke test shall be applied, 

74 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

and any defects or leaks disclosed by this test shall 
in like manner be made tight and strong. All tests 
shall be made by and at the expense of the plumb- 
ing contractor. 

Closet and Slop-Sink Floor Connections. — ^All 
water-closets and slop-sinks shall be provided with 
flexible metal-to-metal brass floor flanges, which 
shall be securely soldered to the lead bends. The 
adjusting threads of the flange, where they come 
together, shall be well lubricated with Dixon's 
Graphite. 

WATER SUPPLY 

The water-supply system throughout the build- 
ing shall be of galvanized wrought pipe with gal- 
vanized malleable beaded fittings. All water pipes 
shall be exposed and shall be neatly run in straight 
lines spaced about 3 inches from center to center, 
and the joints shall be made up at the fittings so 
no threads will show. All galvanized pipe shall be 
supported about every 10 feet by Fee and Mason 
split-ring hangers, which shall be galvanized to 
correspond with the pipe and fittings. Before the 
work is accepted, all exposed pipes must be cleaned 
and left entirely free from tool or other marks. 

Service Pipe and Meters. — The contractors 
shall have inserted in the water main, in the street 
where indicated on the ground floor plan, eight (8) 
three-quarter inch (|") taps. Each tap shall be 
connected by means -of a tail-piece and 3 feet of 
a a a lead pipe to an eight-branch IJ-inch multiple 
connection. 

75 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

From this connection, extend a service of IJ- 
inch galvanized-iron pipe to the inside of the build- 
ing, thence to and along the ceiling of the ground 
floor to the pump room. Connect the service pipe 
in the pump room to a water-filter, and to two 
Crown, Nash or Hersey Water Meters; each meter 
shall be so controlled by gate valves that it can be 
cut out of service without interrupting the flow to 
the other meter or shutting off the supply from the 
suction tank. From the meters, extend the IJ-inch 
pipe to the suction tank, and terminate it with four 
1-inch ball cocks arranged to shut off the water 
when the suction tank is full. 

Suction Tank. — The suction tank shall be of 
steel plates x^-inch thick, double riveted at the 
seams and well calked to make the joints perfectly 
water-tight. The tank shall be 10 feet long, 8 feet 
wide, 6 feet deep and shall be supported on four 
9|-pound 5-inch standard I beams, each 8 feet long, 
to raise the tank from the floor. The beams and 
tank shall be well painted with two coats of black 
varnish or asphaltum, and the top of the tank shall 
be covered with a wire screen of fine mesh to pre- 
vent the entrance of vermin, and decked over with 
2-inch planks well matched to make it dirt proof. 
A hinged manhole about 2 feet square shall be 
provided in the top. The outlet from the suction 
tank shall be at the bottom near the pump end of 
the tank, as shown on the plan. It shall consist of 
a 2J-inch tapped flange riveted to the tank plate, 
A brass wire strainer shall protect the suction in- 
let. The inlet to the tank shall be 2 inches in dia- 

76 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

meter and shall be reinforced by a flange on the 
outside of the opening, but the flange need not be 
tapped. 

Water Filter.— The filter shall be a New York, 
of the pressure type, manufactured by the New 
York Continental Jewell Filtration Company, 5 feet 
in diameter, 6 feet high and possessing a capacity 
of 3,000 U. S. gallons per hour. The filter shall be 
provided with an automatic coagulating apparatus, 
and fitted with a by-pass so unfiltered water can 
be delivered direct to the suction tank. 

House Pump. — Furnish and fit up, alongside 
of the suction tank, one size 3-A Quimby screw 
pump having a capacity of 1,800 gallons of water 
per hour against a head of 100 feet. The pump 
shall be direct-connected to a 3 horsepower direct- 
current motor of the General-Electric, Crocker- 
Wheeler or Sprague type, and shall be provided 
with an automatic switch and starting device to 
turn on the current when water in the house tank 
reaches a certain level and stop the motor when 
the tank is full. Provide a brick or concrete foun- 
dation for the pump 2 feet 6 inches wide by 5 feet 
6 inches long, capped with a flagstone of granite or 
bluestone, with bolts set in to secure the pump. 
The pump shall be set on a matting of felt to deaden 
any sound due to vibration. Connect the suction 
end of the pump to the outlet of the suction tank 
with a 2i-inch galvanized wrought pipe, and ex- 
tend a 2i-inch galvanized wrought pipe from the 
pump to the house tank on roof.' 

77 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

House Tank. — Furnish and fit up on the roof 
of the building where shown on plan, one wooden 
house tank 10 feet in diameter by 8 feet 6 inches 
deep, made of 2-inch cypress, cedar or white pine. 
Cover the tank with a copper screen of fine mesh to 
exclude mosquitoes and with a dust-proof wooden 
cover. Provide a hinged manhole 2 feet square 
through the cover. 

The tank shall rest on pine timbers spaced 
about 12 inches apart and running crosswise with 
the flooring of the tank. The entire weight of the 
tank shall be supported on two steel beams fur- 
nished by the plumbing contractor. These beams 
shall be^ respectively: one 15-inch 42-pound stand- 
ard I beam 18 feet long, and one 9-inch 21-pound 
standard I beam 9 feet long. The two beams shall 
be tied together with two |-inch tie rods, and shall 
rest on four bluestone or granite templets 6 inches 
by 12 inches by 24 inches, provided by the plumb- 
ing contractor. The house tank shall be provided 
with an overflow pipe 4 inches in diameter, and a 
2J-inch emptying pipe discharging onto the roof; a 
pump pipe and expansion pipe shall empty into the 
tank, which shall be connected to a 3J-inch galva- 
nized wrought pipe to supply the building. 

Supply to Building. — The 3J-inch house supply 
pipe shall be extended from the house tank to the 
pump room, where, by means of a 3J by 3 by 2J- 
inch T, a 2J-inch branch shall be taken to the hot- 
water tank, to supply the building with hot water, 
and the 3-inch run shall extend in full size to the 
cold-water manifold. The 2i-inch hot-water pipe 

78 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

from the hot- water tank shall extend in full size to 
the hot-water manifold, and a li-inch branch from 
the pipe directly above the hot-water tank shall be 
extended to the house tank on the roof to act as a 
relief pipe for the system. 

There shall be three sets of manifolds: hot, 
cold and circulation, from which all supplies in the 
building shall be controlled. Each manifold shall 
control eight sets of pipes run along the ceiling, as 
shown on the ground floor plan and in detail on 
sheet 4. These manifolds shall be provided with 
drip pipes and valves so that any one line can be 
shut off and drained without affecting the other 
lines. 

The supply pipes throughout the building shall 
be of the following sizes: distributing mains for 
cold water, li-inches in diameter; distributing 
mains for hot water, li-inches in diameter; circu- 
lation pipes, |-inch in diameter. Distributor 
branches in bathrooms shall be f-inch in diameter; 
branches to the bath tubs, |-inch in diameter; 
branches to lavatories, i-inch in diameter; branches 
to closet tanks, J-inch in diameter. All exposed 
piping within the bathrooms shall be of galvanized 
pipe, well cleaned and polished, free from tool 
marks and made up into fittings so no part of the 
male threads on the pipes will show. The horizon- 
tal mains on the ground floor shall be graded from 
the risers to the manifold headers so the pipes will 
have a fall toward the headers of about J-inch in 
10 feet. 

System of Valving. — In the pump room, there 
shall be a IJ-inch gate valve on the water-service 

79 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

pipe on the street side of the filter, one on each 
branch to the meters, and another on each dis- 
charge branch from the meters. A 2i-inch gate 
valve shall be interposed between the suction tank 
and the pump, and a IJ-inch gate valve shall be 
placed in a tee in the suction pipe on the tank side 
of the 2J-inch valve, to serve as an emptying cock. 
On the house-tank side of the pump, a 2J-inch gate 
valve shall be placed in the pump pipe, and in the 
branch of a T immediately above the valve there 
shall be a i-inch angle valve for emptying the 
pump pipe. 

In connection with the house tank on the roof, 
there shall be a 3J-inch gate valve on the house- 
supply pipe with a vent pipe from a T extending 
above the surface of the water in the tank. A 2J- 
inch gate valve shall be provided in the emptying 
pipe from the tank. A 2i-inch gate valve shall be 
provided in the cold-water supply to the hot- water 
tank and another in the hot-water branch to the 
hot-water manifold. A 3-inch gate valve shall be 
provided in the branch controlling the cold-water 
manifold. Each distributing main from the cold- 
water manifold shall have a IJ-inch gate valve for 
shutting off the water, and immediately above the 
gate valve from a |-inch branch T there shall be a 
§-inch angle valve connected to a drip pipe. The 
hot-water distributing mains and the circulating 
pipe shall be fitted with valves in the same manner, 
except that the gate valves on the hot- water pipe 
shall be li-inch and the valves on the circulation 
pipes i-inch diameter. All valves on the manifold 
headers shall be provided with brass tags stamped 

80 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

to indicate the line of pipe they control. A IJ-inch 
ground-key cock shall be used in connection with 
the heating apparatus for emptying the tank and 
heater. 

The supply to each bathroom shall be con- 
trolled by an angle valve placed on both the hot 
and cold water distributing branches. The several 
fixtures in the bathrooms shall not be separately 
valved. 

All valves shall be heavy pattern, brass body, 
of Crane, Fairbanks or Jenkins Bros. make. Gate 
valves shall be double -seated valves and angle 
valves shall have soft Seats. 

Hot- Water and Circulation Pipes. — Each hot- 
water riser throughout the building shall be accom- 
panied by a corresponding circulation pipe, J-inch 
in diameter, which shall be connected to the hot- 
water riser by means of a return bend on the top 
floor of the building. The hot- water riser, also the 
circulation riser, shall be supported only at the 
second floor of the building, so the ends will be 
free to expand up and down. 

Water-Heating Apparatus. — The contractor 
shall provide and set up where shown on the plans, 
one steel hot-water tank 48 inches in diameter and 
8 feet high, made of i^^-inch steel plates double 
riveted, the seams calked perfectly water tight, 
and guaranteed to withstand a pressure of 300 
pounds per square inch. The tank shall be con- 
nected by means of a 2i-inch flow and return pipe 
to a cast-iron Ideal, Yale or Sun ray water heater 
containing 6 square feet of grate surface and hav- 

81 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

ing a smoke flue of 10 inches diameter. The tank 
shall stand upright alongside the heater and both 
shall rest on a cement base especially provided for 
the purpose. Cover the hot-water tank v^ith li- 
inches of asbestos plaster smoothly troweled on 
over a band of expanded metal. 

Smoke Flue or Chimney. — The owner shall 
provide a chimney flue lined with flue lining which 
shall be cylindrical in form and 10 inches in diame- 
ter. If the linings are square in section, they shall 
measure 10 inches on the inside. 

Test of Water-Supply System. — The entire 
water-supply system throughout the building shall 
be subjected to a hydraulic pressure of 100 pounds 
to the square inch, at which pressure the pipe fit- 
tings and joints must be perfectly tight. 

Prices for Extra Work.— Each estimator shall 
include in his tender a schedule of prices for labor, 
for various sizes of soil pipe, waste pipe, water pipe, 
cocks, valves and for other materials. Also a 
schedule of prices for the various fixtures and 
trimmings specified, that he will furnish the goods 
for in case extra fixtures are required, or that will 
be deducted from the cost of the contract in case 
any fixtures or materials are omitted. It is under- 
stood however that in case the extra work, or the 
reduction of work exceeds five per cent, of the 
amount of the contract, the prices stated may be 
superseded by a special written agreement stating 
the work to be performed and the prices to be paid 
therefore. Should the owner and contractor fail 
to agree as to the amount to be added to or de- 

82 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



ducted from the contract for changes from the 
original plans and specifications, a written agree- 
ment will be entered into as required, but without 
the amount to be added to, or deducted from, the 
contract being stated; and if the owner and con- 
tractor continue to disagree, the matter in dispute 
shall be decided by arbitration, as provided for in 
the following section. 

Arbitration. — In case the owner and contractor 
fail to agree as to the price to be paid for changes 
to or alterations from the plans and specifications, 
or a dispute should arise as to any other terms of 
the specifications and contract, the matter shall be 
referred to a Board of Arbitration consisting of 
three persons. One of the board shall be selected 
by the owner, one by the contractor, and the two 
so chosen shall select the third. The decision of 
any two of the board shall be final and binding on 
both parties, and each party, the owner and the 
contractor, shall pay one-half the costs of the arbi- 
tration trial. 

Insurance. — The owner during the progress of 
the work shall keep it insured against loss or dam- 
age by fire so as to cover all work installed in the 
building or materials stored on the premises; and 
the policy shall be made payable to the plumbing 
contractor, proportionately with the other con- 
tractors, as the interests might appear. 

FIXTURES 

In specifying the fixtures for a building it is 
customary to copy the descriptions given in the 

83 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

catalogue of the goods to be used, adding or making 
such alterations as may be deemed advisable. In 
the present specifications, descriptions of the fix- 
tures are omitted, and only one example given to 
show the form usually followed. 

Water Closets.— The closets throughout shall 
be Design A 2 (Standard) Vitrite porcelain design 
'*A" low tank center outlet twin syphon jet bowl, 
with 2-inch nickel-plated brass flush connection, 
Plate P 951 quarter sawed oak saddle seat and panel 
cover, Plate P940 porcelain enameled in and out 
tank with square front and flat top, with water 
pressure regulator and low push button, nickel- 
plated brass wall supply pipe with china index 
compression stop, flexible metal-to-metal floor con- 
nection, bolts, nuts and washers complete. 




84 




SUGGESTIONS FOR 
SPECIFICATION WRITING 




IVISIONS and Subdivisions.— A 

printed form of specification cannot 
well be prepared for plumbing work. 
Of course, a printed form with blank 
spaces could be prepared, but, owing 
to the fact that no two installations are alike, a 
printed form to be applicable to all would be so 
cumbersome and contain so many unnecessary- 
clauses and conditions that it would lead to confu- 
sion and, in case of a disagreement, probably cause 
injustice or hardship to one of the contracting par- 
ties. Even for simple installations a satisfactory 
blank form of specification cannot be prepared, for 
a specification is simply a straight- forward, simple 
statement of what material is to be supplied and 
what work is to be performed. If a blank form is 
prepared and made flexible enough to cover any 
and all installations the composite form of the 
specification will be had at the expense of clearness 
and simplicity. When a contract is to be entered 
into, or a specification is to be prepared, the better 

85 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

way is to consider carefully what each party to the 
agreement will be required to do, then, in all fair- 
ness, reduce that agreement to a formal writing. 
It is not only easier to prepare a written specifica- 
tion than to satisfactorily fill out the blank spaces 
of a printed form, but for all concerned it is safer. 
In preparing a specification, by observing a 
few simple rules, the task can be reduced to a sim- 
plicity that is surprising. The chief aims of the 
specification are clearness and completeness; and 
these two requirements, coupled with conciseness, 
can be best secured by dividing the specifications 
into the four principal divisions: General Condi- 
tions; Drainage System; Water Supply; Fixtures, 
and treating each of these general subjects sepa- 
rately. The work will be still further simplified 
by subdividing the principal subjects into their 
various subheadings. A simple expedient which 
will be found useful at all times when preparing 
specifications is to have a hst of titles of the various 
conditions that must be observed, or fixtures which 
might be required in a building, checking off the 
items as they are specified, or those that are not 
required. This list can be added to from time to 
time as new items are encountered in different 
types of buildings, until finally a full and complete 
list of the various subjects that must be considered 
in the planning of plumbing and writing the speci- 
fications will be incorporated in the schedule. Such 
memoranda will be found useful not only in writ- 
ing the specification, but likewise in preparing the 
drawings and will prevent any item being f orgot- 

86 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

ten. A form containing a partial list of items, 
which can be added to from time to time, follows : 



GENERAL CONDITIONS 



Interpretation of plans and 
specifications 

Drawings 

Permits and plumbing laws 

Number and location of fix- 
tures 

Superintendence and in- 
spection 

Beginning and termination 
of work 

Changes from plans 

Removal of rubbish 

Temporary water-closet 



Guarantees 

Arbitration 

Extras 

Protection of work 

Responsibility for damage 

Insurance 

Removing condemned goods 

Abandonment of work 

Temporary water supply 

Cutting and repairing 

Ambiguity 

Prices for extra work 

Payments 



DRAINAGE SYSTEM 



Excavating 

The house sewer 

Material for drainage sys- 
tem 

Soil pipe joints 

Location of drains 

Falls for drains 

Cleanouts 

Supports for drainage sys- 
tem 

Main drain trap 

Fresh-air inlet 

Floor drains 

Yard and area drains 

Rain leaders 

Subsoil drainage 

Tide-water traps 

Connections between iron 
and lead pipe 



Flashings 

System of piping 

Lead pipe 

Traps 

Closet and slop-sink floor 
connections 

Tests 

Safe wastes 

Refrigerator wastes 

Grease traps 

Blow-off tanks 

Mechanical discharge sys- 
tems 

Septic tank 

Filter beds 

Contact beds 

Disposal fields 

Stall drains 



87 



Plumbiuo Plans and Specifications 



WATER SUPPLY 



Wells 

Reservoirs 

Cisterns 

Standpipes 

Windmills 

Hydraulic rams 

Water-softening apparatus 

Water-supply pipes 

Pressure regulators 

Service pipe 

Meters 

Filters 

Suction tank 

House pump 

House tank 

Street sprinklers ' 

House supply 



Distributing manifolds 
Air chamber 
Hot-water tank 
Water heater 
Smoke pipe 
Hot-water pipes 
Circulation pipes 
Expansion loops or joints 
Covering pipes and tanks 
Temperature regulators 
Safety valves 
System of valving 
Drip pipes 
Fire lines 
Ice-water pipes 
Salt-water pipes 
Rain-water pipes 



FIXTURES 



Water-closets 
Bath tubs 
Shower baths 
Lavatories 
Hospital lavatories 
Sitz baths 
Foot baths 
Bidets 
Child's bath 
Slop sinks 
Hospital slop sinks 
Pantry sinks 



Laundry tubs 
Kitchen and scullery sinks 
Urinals 

Drinking fountains 
Bathroom scales 
Bathroom furnishings 
Hydrotherapeutic appara- 
tus 
Swimming pools 
Manicure tables and basins 
Operating tables 



The foregoing schedule does not include every- 
thing which is hable to be required in all types of 
buildings, but the items will suggest anything 
which is not named. For instance, Fire Lines does 
not mention outside fire hydrants, such as would 

88 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

be required for a country institution, but the item 
recalls the necessity for fire protection, and should 
suggest to an imaginative mind the necessity for 
hydrants. In like manner the item water-heater 
would suggest to the mind the apparatus to be used 
for this purpose, whether a coal water-heater or 
steam coil. 

When writing a plumbing specification, a good 
plan is to take up one of the subdivisions at a time 
and state all that is to be said about that particular 
subject before leaving it and taking up another. 
Never confuse two or more subjects and jump from 
one to the other, first stating something about one, 
then flying off to a second, back to the first and 
then off to a third. For example, if specifying the 
water-supply pipe for a building, treat the subject 
as though there would be no valves in the system, 
then having disposed of the water-supply pipes, 
take up the matter of valving under the title ' 'Sys- 
tem of Valving,^' and state expHcitly the kind of 
valves to be used, and where each valve shall be 
placed. If this system is followed, confusion will 
be avoided both in writing and in interpreting the 
specifications. To make this point clear, a para- 
graph is here quoted from an imaginary specifica- 
tion, so that it can be analyzed to point out what to 
do to make a specification simple, concise and clear. 

WATER SUPPLY 

* 'Water Main. — From the water main in Broad Street 
run a 1^-inch extra-heavy galvanized-iron service pipe into 
the cellar through the front foundation wall. Coat this pipe 
with a heavy covering of pitch tar, or paint to prevent cor- 

89 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

rosion. Secure and pay for a l|-inch tapping to the water 
main. Connect the galvanized service pipe to the corpora- 
tion cock with a l|-inch double extra-strong lead pipe and 
brass solder nipple connections. Locate a ground-key stop 
cock and a cast-iron curb box at the curb. Bury the service 
pipe line at least 3 feet below the ground and finish with IJ- 
inch plugged T-fitting inside of cellar wall. At the house 
side of the T-fitting screw a l|-inch brass body gate valve 
with an emptying cock on the house side of the valve. On 
the house side of this emptying cock place a IJ-inch No Leak 
pressure-regulating valve. Attach a suitable pressure gauge 
on the house side of the pressure-regulating valve and set 
the valve so that it will hold up 40 pounds per square inch 
pressure in the building, independent of the street variations. 
From the street side of the pressure-regulating valve take 
off a |-inch galvanized iron pipe connection, run same to 
supply a |-inch hose cock, to be located where directed by 
the architect for lawn-sprinkling purposes, and place a 
f-inch roundway ground key stop and waste cock on this line 
in the cellar. Continue from the pressure-regulating valve 
with a l|-inch galvanized iron water pipe to the several 
risers. Leave a plugged T-fitting where directed by the 
architect to supply a steam boiler in the future." 

The foregoing imaginary specification is faulty 
in many ways. In the first place, it starts in to 
describe the run of the pipe, then swings to the 
kind of pipe to be used, goes back to the run, then 
switches off into covering the pipe. Making an- 
other start, it takes up permits and payments for 
tapping, follows with description of method and 
materials for connection, then jumps to the location 
of a stop cock and box. Back it goes to the run 
and depth of the pipe, and again comes back to 
valves and drip cocks. Next comes a pressure-re- 
ducing apparatus, then a pressure gauge, followed 
by adjustment of the pressure regulator. Back 

90 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

goes the specification to the run of the pipe, which 
is left indefinite; next to stop cock, then off to the 
run of pipe again. Such a specification is not only 
hard to write and difficult to follow, but is lacking 
in clearness, simplicity and conciseness. Besides 
the defects pointed out, the specification is open to 
the further objection that in parts it is indefinite. 
A 1-inch iron pipe is to be run to supply a i-inch 
hose bibb "to be located where directed by the 
architect.'* That is an uncertainty which can al- 
ways be avoided by deciding definitely at the time 
the specifications are written at what point the 
hose bibb, or whatever other part it may be, will 
be located, and incorporating the information in 
the specifications. Not having been stated in the 
specifications or shown on the plans, the estimator 
will have to allow the greatest possible run in order 
to protect himself, and an additional allowance for 
time in waiting for a decision or hunting the archi- 
tect for information. In Hke manner, the location 
of the outlet for the boiler could and should have 
been determined upon and the location shown on 
the plans. 

Much of the confusion in specifications of this 
character can be avoided by showing the water- 
supply system on the plans. When this is done, 
the runs and sizes can be marked thereon and can 
then be omitted from the specifications. If this be 
done in the fore-going example, it will simplify 
matters to such an extent that the kind of pipe, 
connection to the main, valves and pressure-reduc- 
ing outfit are all that will have had to be covered 
separately by the specification; the securing of per- 

91 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

mits and payment for permits and taps having 
been taken care of in the general condition, * 'Per- 
mits and Plumbing Laws/' The whole section 
describing the run of the service, pipe and connec- 
tions can then be specified in something like the 
following manner: 

Service Pipe. — The contractor shall have in- 
serted in the water main, in the street indicated on 
the basement plan, one li-inch tap, which shall be 
connected to the service pipe by means of 3 feet of 
double extra-strong lead pipe. All that portion of 
the service pipe buried in the earth shall have one 
heavy coat of pitch, tar or paint. 

The sentence in the description of the water 
supply that ''the water-supply system throughout 
the building shall be of galvanized wrought pipe 
with galvanized malleable fittings" sufficiently 
takes care of the material of the service pipe, so 
that would not have to be touched upon again, and 
under the title "System of Valving" the statement 
* 'there shall be a IJ-inch roundway stop cock, fitted 
with a long handle, located inside a cast-iron ex- 
tension curb box at the curb, and a IJ-inch gate 
valve with a |-inch drip valve, located just inside 
the foundation wall,'' would take care of the curb 
cock and valves, and at the same time give more 
definite information about these points. The pres- 
sure regulator is an apparatus, and, with the ac- 
companying pressure gauge, should be separately 
treated under the subheading of ' 'Pressure Regu- 
lator." It will thus be seen that, by uprooting the 
several tangled subjects and placing each in its 

92 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

proper place, the description becomes not only- 
simpler and easier to write, but clearer and easier 
to understand. To prepare a good plan and write 
a satisfactory specification the designer must be 
perfectly familiar with the various materials which 
will enter into the work. The object is to get the 
very best installation at the least possible cost, and 
to do so he must know the various grades of goods 
and be familiar with the various improvements in 
faucets, valves and apparatus, so that he can select 
the best suited to the purpose in each case and not 
be driven to the expedient of specifying the best 
and most expensive goods for installations when 
regular stock goods would answer the purpose as 
well. The designer should be so well posted in the 
various goods and know so well which are best for 
each case that he can specify the exact goods want- 
ed. In doing so it is better to select two or three 
similar grades of goods, any of which will be ac- 
ceptable, and specify that the material called for 
shall be one of the makes mentioned, than to call 
for one make of goods as a standard, or something 
* 'equally good." For instance, it is better to state 
that * 'all valves used in connection with the water 
supply shall be Fairbank's, Crane's or Jenkins 
Brothers 's soft seat heavy pattern cast-brass globe 
valves with wooden handles, *' than to say the 
"valves shall all be Jenkins Brothers's soft seat 
heavy pattern cast-brass globe valves, with wooden 
wheels, or equally good." In the first case, the 
designer knows the quality of the three makes 
specified and, while allowing opportunity for fair 
competition, assures himself that in any event a 

93 



Plumbing Plans a n d S p e c i f i c a t i o n s 

satisfactory make of valve will be used. In the 
second case the door is opened for the substitution 
of inferior, light-weight or otherwise unsatisfac- 
tory goods, without the benefit of competition, or, 
on the other hand, stifles competition, for the 
clause "or equally good'' leaves it in the designer's 
power to object that no valve submitted is equally 
good, thereby insisting on having Jenkins Broth- 
ers's valves used. To protect himself, therefore, a 
careful estimator will take that into consideration 
and figure on that make of goods, while other con- 
tractors may estimate on the goods specified as a 
standard, depending later on substituting * 'equally 
good" valves if permitted. That is a form of speci- 
fication often used where favorites are intended to 
get the work. Any outsider securing the contract 
would have to install the standard goods specified, 
while favorites can rely on substituting the * 'equally 
good." When a fair, impartial specification is de- 
sired the alternative of two or more equal grades 
of goods is the better plan to follow. The best 
plan in specifying fixtures for ordinary work is to 
call for one make of goods without alternative. 
All estimators are then put upon the same footing 
and figure on an equally good installation. In very 
large installations the best plan is to select two 
makes of goods of similar quality, and specify them 
as alternatives. In selecting the fixtures however 
care must be exercised to see that the goods are 
exactly of the same quality, not specifying them 
because they look alike and are of the same list 
price. For instance*, one make of closet might be 
almost noiseless in action, while another very simi- 

94 



Plumbin.e- Plans and Specifications 

lar in appearance and of the same price would be 
extremely noisy. It stands to reason that in such a 
case equal grades of goods would not be selected. 
In specifying fixtures and special apparatus, 
such as pumps, filters and hydraulic rams, some 
articles are so much better suited than others to 
the installation under consideration that there 
should be no hesitancy in specifying them without 
reserve. Manufacturers who place upon the mar- 
ket a line of goods of such excellence that they 
command public confidence are entitled to have 
their goods mentioned as the only ones acceptable 
when in the estimation of the designer they are the 
best for the purpose. Some hesitate to do this for 
fear of being charged with favoritism, and make 
the error of specifying certain fixtures, * 'or equally 
good.'' If, however, in the judgment of the de- 
signer, fixtures of a certain character are what he 
believes suitable for a certain installation, he should 
specify them by catalogue number and without 
alternative. His client, in placing the work in his 
hands, has signified perfect confidence in his judg- 
ment and integrity, and these he should exercise 
to the best of his ability. Having specified certain 
goods, for the reason that they are the best for 
that purpose, no alteration or substitution should 
be permitted. This is not to be interpreted as 
meaning that new materials and apparatus are not 
to be given a trial, for if such a principal were 
followed there would be no progress in sanitary 
matters. What is meant is, that the plumbing in 
a building having once been planned and specified 
to the best of a designer's ability, not to change 

95 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

the drawings or specifications to try something new 
just then being floated on the market. If the new 
article promises well, keep it in mind and, if so in- 
clined, try it in the next installation where it will 
be suitable. By this method the new goods will be 
in mind when making the drawings and writing 
the specifications, which can be prepared accord- 
ingly. By following this plan there will be no 
danger of mixing up the specifications by altering 
them and thus open the door for vexatious extras. 

The chief fault of most plumbing specifications 
lies in the fact that they are indefinite, and leave 
the contracting plumber to work out problems 
which should have been settled by the designer and 
the solution inserted in the plans and specifications. 
For instance, in a specification recently prepared 
by a sanitary engineer the following paragraph 
was incorporated: 

* 'Ample Water Supply to Fixtures: All water 
closets and other plumbing fixtures must be pro- 
vided with an ample supply of water for proper 
flushing and to keep them in a cleanly condition.'' 

Instead of requiring *'an ample supply to all 
fixtures,'* the designer should be more specific. 
He is in possession of data as to the source and 
pressure of water, and from this knowledge should 
calculate the sizes of pipes, both mains and fixture 
branches. Having calculated and specified the 
various sizes of pipe he knows that the fixtures 
will have ample supplies, and relieves the contract- 
or of the responsibility of calculating the sizes and 
doing work which rightly belongs to the designer. 
The main thing is to be specific. For instance, in- 

96 



Plumbing- Plans and Specifications 

stead of requiring an ample supply of water to fix- 
tures, state that the supply to lavatories shall be 
J-inch, to bath tubs |-inch, and to closet J-inch, or 
whatever other sizes the conditions warrant. 

In the same specification also appeared the fol- 
lowing paragraph: 

''Expansion: Due allowance shall be made for 
the expansion of horizontal and vertical hot and 
circulation pipes throughout the building, and pre- 
caution taken against damage therefrom/' 

That is a very vague and indefinite statement 
to estimate on, and again places upon the contract- 
or the burden of devising satisfactory means. The 
proper way is to calculate at what points expansion 
loops will be required, then mark the locations on 
the plans, show details of them, and cover in the 
specifications what cannot be shown in the draw- 
ings. At all events, the designer should do his 
own work, not pass it along to the contractor. 

To briefly sum up, if specifications are to in- 
sure a good, full and complete installation, without 
extras, and are to provide for fair competition, 
taken in connection with the plans, they must be 
complete and clear. If they are incomplete, vague, 
indefinite, ambiguous or capable of more than one 
construction, the door is opened to favoritism, dis- 
putes, high prices and charges for extra work. 

To insure fair competition the specifications 
must be worded so the bidders will estimate on ex- 
actly the same things; nothing should be left to the 
discretion of the architect, and the contractor 
should not be required to assume any risks for un- 
known conditions incident to the work. 

97 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

A condition which appears in most specifica- 
tions and which is a condition of weakness, as it 
does not insure what it calls for, is the clause that 
* 'all work and material shall be first class in every 
respecf ; and the sooner the truth about the mat- 
ter is realized the better for all concerned. 

The architect or designer gets no better work 
and material than he specifically shows and calls 
for, if he shows a poorly planned and badly laid 
out system with inadequate water main and other 
defects of design, the contractor has complied with 
his contract when he has installed the work accord- 
ingly, although it is not a first class job, nor can he 
be made make it first class under the terms of his 
contract. 

• On the other hand, if the work is well propor- 
tioned, properly laid out, the right kind of mater- 
ials specified and the plumber required to put the 
work together in such a manner that no tool marks 
or other abrasions will show, then the architect 
will secure a first class job, although the words 
were not mentioned in the specifications. This all 
comes back to the point that it is the man who lays- 
out and designs the work who determines the qual- 
ity. If the planning is not first class, nothing the 
plumbers or contractors can possibly do will bring 
it within that class. Sometimes an architect speci- 
fies that * all goods shall be the best of the several 
kinds' ^ then calls for a certain fixture without 
specifying whether it shall be an A quaHty, B 
quality or C quaHty. Under the terms of such a 
specification a fixture of either grade would fill the 
requirement, provided it was one of the best of that 

98 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

class. For instance, if a porcelain tub were called 
for under such a clause, a B or C tub would fill the 
bill, provided it was the best B or C tub that could 
be procured. Such a specification is loose in the 
extreme. It should state specifically whether A, 
B or C goods are wanted. In the absence of such 
a statement different contractors, according to the 
lights, will figure on the different grades. 

Specifying Goods According to Standards. — A 

very good way of specifying materials, when it can 
be done, is according to certain standards laid down 
in the specifications. Such a method permits of 
the widest possible competition while at the same 
time assuring a standard of goods equal to that 
called for. It must be borne in mind, however, 
that under such a specification a more rigid inspec- 
tion of the goods will be necessary than when they 
are specified from the stock of a well-known and 
high-grade manufacturer's catalogue, for irrespon- 
sible makers are liable to take a chance on goods 
which to a casual inspection seem up to the stand- 
ard, but do not bear a close examination. Such 
pipe is among the materials which are specified ac- 
cording to standards, and even though the sizes, 
weights and other properties of soil pipe are gen- 
erally specified, many manufacturers ship goods 
that are far from being up to the standards. Extra 
heavy soil pipe often has considerable below the 
specified weights, while in other cases it is far 
from being * 'sound cylindrical and smooth, free 
from sand holes and other defects." In large 
buildings, where many fixtures are to be used, 

99 



Plumbing Plans and Specifi'Cations 

drawings can be made of them if special designs 
are, wan ted, or a specification can be made up from 
a fixture which has already been found satisfactory 
in use. 

A good example of specifying according to 
standards may be cited in the case of floor connec- 
tions for water closets and slop sinks. Metal-to- 
metal connections are now becoming rapidly adopt- 
ed in practice, likewise flexible bends for connect- 
ing water closets and slop sinks to drainage sys- 
tems. To have to select certain types of floor con- 
nections or lead bends for each installation is a dif- 
ficult matter, and the best way is to specify ac- 
cording to standards. A provision for floor connec- 
tions which is applicable to all approved floor flanges 
may be written as follows: 

Closet and Slop Sink Floor Connections. — Closets and 
slop sinks shall be connected to the drainage system by 
means of adjustable, flexible, metal-to-metal floor flanges. 
The use of putty, paste, cement ,or gaskets of any kind in 
the drainage system is absolutely prohibited. 

A section like the following will insure the use of ex- 
pansion and settlement fittings which will prevent damage 
to the system or fixtures: 

Lead Connections for Closet and Slop Sinks. — Each water 
closet and slop sink shall be connected to the drainage sys- 
tem with at least 3 inches of lead pipe intervening between 
the floor flange and the soil pipe. This lead pipe shall be cor- 
rugated with at least two corrugations to make it flexible so 
it will give under shrinkage or settlement without damage to 
fixtures. 



100 




ANALYSIS OF SPECIFICATIONS 




INTERPRETATION OF PLANS 
AND SPECIFICATIONS 

HERE are many paragraphs in specifi- 
cations, particularly under the heading 
of * 'General Conditions," which might 
seem unnecessary. There is nothing 
which enters into the wording of a 
specification, however, which is not an important 
part of that document, and does not serve a useful 
purpose, as the following analysis will show. 
Specifications usually start out with a paragraph to 
the effect that the plans and specifications are to 
be construed together, and that anything shown on 
the drawings but not mentioned in the specifica- 
tions, or anything mentioned in the specifications 
but not shown on the drawings, shall be included 
in the work as though fully shown and mentioned 
in both the plans and specifications. This at first 
thought might seem an unreasonable requirement, 
but it is far from being so. The conventional sym- 
bols used to designate plumbing work, fixtures or 
apparatus on drawings might not always be clearly 

101 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

indicated, may be so confused by other lines as not 
to be recognizable, or might be omitted altogether, 
in any of which cases they would not be seen or 
recognized by the estimator. If, however, in the 
specifications specific mention is made of these 
materials, apparatus or fixtures, he is put upon in- 
quiry, and can find out if such goods are to be in- 
cluded. If he fails or neglects to do so it is at his 
own risk. If, on the other hand, the work, fixtures 
or apparatus are clearly shown on the drawings but 
not mentioned in the specifications, here again he 
is put upon inquiry, and neglects to find out at his 
own cost. 

A further condition of this section usually is 
that any material or labor obviously required to 
complete the work shall be included in the specifi- 
cations as fully as though mentioned in the specifi- 
cations and shown on the plans. This paragraph 
is intended, however, to include such necessary 
materials only as screws, bolts, brackets, etc., 
without which the fixtures could not be secured in 
place, and must not be mistaken to include mater- 
ials which are necessary to the complete work but 
which might be supplied by some other contractor. 
For instance, the marble stalls for urinals, com- 
partments for water closets and wainscoting in 
toilet rooms are sometimes included in the plumb- 
ing specifications, and at other times in the specifi- 
cations for marble work. If mention of these stalls 
and compartments is omitted from the plumbing 
specification, and nothing on the plans indicates 
that this material is to be furnished by the plumber, 
it cannot reasonably be considered part of his con- 

102 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

tract, although shown on the plans and obviously 
necessary to the completion of the plumbing work. 
The reason for this is that marble is not distinctly 
a plumbing material, and, therefore, the estimator 
is not put upon inquiry if the matter is not in some 
way, on plans or in specifications, indicated as be- 
longing to the plumbing contract. The same may 
be said of the kitchen range, which sometimes, but 
not usually, is furnished by the plumbing contract- 
or. To put the estimator on inquiry, the work or 
materials shown must be distinctly plumbing work 
or materials, and not work and materials which are 
sometimes made part of a plumbing contract. He 
is justified in believing, when no mention is made 
in his specification of the latter class of goods and 
work, that he is not to estimate on them. Mater- 
ials and work obviously necessary to complete the 
plumbing work can only be stretched to cover little 
details belonging to fixtures or work already speci- 
fiedy but cannot be extended to include entirely 
new fixtures or separate lines of pipes. For in- 
stance, it would be obviously necessary to make 
tight the joints around vent pipes where they are 
extended through the roof, and the flashing of 
pipes at this point would be part of the plumbing 
work; but escutcheons and sleeves are not neces- 
sary where pipes pass through walls and ceilings, 
and would not be required unless specified. It 
might be well to add that while it would be neces- 
sary for the plumbing contractor to make tight the 
joints where vent pipes are extended through the 
roofs, in the absence of a city ordinance, or a clause 
in the specifications directing how they shall be 

103 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

made tight and the weight and quality of materials 
to use, he is justified in suiting his own views on 
that point. 

Description of Drawings. — To prevent the ac- 
cidental or intentional substitution of plans instead 
of those estimated on, and on which the estimate 
and contract are based, it is a good, safe practice 
to describe the drawings in the specifications and 
for the owner and contractor, or the architect and 
contractor, to sign them for identification. In case 
of after-disputes, if the case goes to court, matters 
are thus simplified by having as a signed part of 
the contract and record the plans and specifications 
on which the contract is based. In some specifica- 
cations a clause is inserted reciting that the plans 
and specifications are the property of the architect 
and must be returned to the architect before final 
payment will be made. This claim of the architects 
of ownership of the plans and specifications has 
been repeatedly denied by the courts, but, outside 
of the legal status of the case, the logical view 
would seem to indicate that the plans and specifi- 
cations forming as they do part of the plumbing 
contract, as such belong exclusively to the plumb- 
ing contractor, which he should preserve for his 
own protection; and to ask or insist on him return- 
ing the drawings and specifications is as unreason- 
able as to require him to surrender his written con- 
tract of which they form part. The clause is such 
a senseless one, and of so little account to the archi- 
tect, that it is as well omitted. 

104 



Plumbing- Plans and Specifications 

Permits and Plumbing Laws. — Permits are 
usually required and fees exacted for opening 
streets, connecting to street sewers, and tapping 
water mains; and, so the question by whom the ex- 
penses will be borne cannot later arise, a clause is 
usually inserted in every plumbing specification ex- 
plicitly stating that the plumbing contractor shall 
pay for and secure all permits. In the same sec- 
tion a clause is inserted making the plumbing laws 
and regulations of the city in which the work is to 
be performed part of the contract, in so far that 
the contractor must observe all such laws and regu- 
lations and install the work in conformity with 
them. This clause closes the doors on ''extras" 
due to the fact that some work or material is not 
acceptable to the plumbing department, for the 
plumber, who should keep posted as to the require- 
ments of the health and building departments, is 
supposed to have been aware of any difference be- 
tween the plans and specifications, as prepared, 
and the plumbing laws, and to have covered him^ 
self accordingly by estimating on the method en- 
tailing the greater expense. 

Number and Location of Fixtures. — In the 

specifications it is well to specify in tabular form 
the number of each kind of fixture that will be in- 
stalled in the building and the floors on which they 
will be installed. This tabular statement has refer- 
ence to the number of fixtures and not their kinds, 
which are treated in separate paragraphs. It is 
well, likewise, to state the number of apparatus, 
such as pumps, meters and filters, that will be re- 

105 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

quired, so that the number of every kind of fixture 
and apparatus to be used can be seen at a glance. 
This table serves as a check for the estimator, so 
he will not be likely to overlook any of the expen- 
sive items entering into his work. It is assumed, 
of course, that he will check up the number of fix- 
tures specified with those shown on the plans, and 
if any discrepancy is found to bring the matter im- 
mediately to the attention of the architect. It 
might be well to add in this place that when a dis- 
crepancy between the plans and specifications is 
brought to the attention of an architect he should 
make the correction immediately and notify all 
who have estimated on the work, so that they can 
take the correction into consideration and estimate 
on an equal basis with those who take off their 
items after the correction is made. In like manner, 
if the drawings or specifications are so incomplete 
or ambiguous that verbal information is required 
to explain them, the plans and specifications should 
be amended or corrected, and notice sent to all who 
have estimated on the work. It is desirable that 
the architect check up his own work to see that the 
number of fixtures shown on the drawings and 
called for in the specifications tally, for if they do 
not, in order to protect themselves, the contractors 
will have to estimate on the highest quantity called 
for. The architect should make sure that his draw- 
ings and the quantities stated in his specifications 
are correct, and he will not then be forced to place 
in his specifications the humiliating statement that 
he is not responsible for the quantities stated. If 
anybody is supposed or ought to know what mater- 

106 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



ial and fixtures are going in a building it is the ar- 
chitect, and when he expresses himself as having 
no confidence in his own work others cannot be ex- 
pected to have confidence in it. 

A concise way of showing the number of fix- 
tures in a building in a convenient tabular form, so 
the fixtures on the various floors can easily be 
checked, is shown in the following table: 

Number and Location of Fixtures 



Location of 
Fixtures 


Water 
Closets 


Lava- 
tories 


Bath- 
tubs 


Sinks 


Laundry 
Tubs 


Basement 












First floor 




Second floor 




Thirdfloor 




Fourth floor 




Fifthfloor 




Sixth floor 




Seventh floor 








Totals 















The items in such a table can be extended to 
include every type of fixture to be used within the 
building and the number of stories can be increased 
to any extent. 

By using such a table the probability of over- 
looking any of the fixtures is reduced to the mini- 
mum. 

Superintendence and Inspection. — To facili- 
tate the work of installation it is necessary to have 
some one present at all times with authority to act 
for the plumbing contractor. This may be the 
journeyman doing the work on small jobs, or a spe- 

107 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

cial foreman on large installations; but whoever it 
may be should be vested v^ith sufficient authority 
to act in the stead of the contractor in any of the 
ordinary problems which arise for consideration 
from time to time as the worK progresses. 

In the absence of a plumbing law to the con- 
trary, or a clause in the specifications preventing 
such a course, the plumber, as soon as his work is 
completed, can cover it, thus concealing any de- 
fects from sight. To prevent such practice, a 
clause should be inserted in every specification 
stating that no work shall be concealed from sight 
until passed by the architect, his representative or 
whoever has charge of the work. 

Beginning and Termination of Work.— In 

writing specifications, it is well to take into consid- 
eration both the time and point of beginning work, 
how it shall be proceeded with and when com- 
pleted. In many large cities, contractors of no 
financial responsibility secure work on a tempting 
bid, with no intention of proceeding with the work 
for the price, but intend, by holding back the com- 
pletion of the building, to force a larger sum from 
the owner than would be required by a responsible 
concern to do the work, besides having their bills 
guaranteed for them. Sometimes they are bought 
off at a good round figure by the owner, who is 
glad to be rid of them at any price. 

To prevent such practice, the specification 
should declare when work on the contract shall be- 
gin, how progress, and when terminate, with the 
relief to be afforded the owner in case the con- 

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Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

tractor fails to fulfil the terms of the contract. 
Such a section may be worded something like the 
following : 

* 'The contractor shall begin work on the instal- 
lation of the plumbing within three days after 
signing the contract, and shall proceed with his 
work in such manner as not to hinder the other 
workmen or delay the completion of the building. 
By the time the building is ready for lathing (if a 
frame building), or by the time the floor arches are 
in (if a steel frame building), the rough plumbing, 
consisting of the drainage system in the basement, 
all the stacks of soil, waste and vent pipes, all sup- 
ply pipes, and the lead roughing for toilet and bath 
rooms shall be in place and tested. The fixtures 
in the various toilet and bath rooms shall all be 
set in place and connected ready for use within six 
days after the respective rooms are ready for the 
plumbing fixtures to be set.'' 

*lf at any time the contractor gets behind 
with his work and fails or refuses to put on a suffi- 
cient force of men to catch up with the other con- 
tractors, or if at any time he shall neglect or re- 
fuse to proceed with his work for two consecutive 
days, the owner, after two days' notice, may con- 
sider the work abandoned and purchase all neces- 
sary material and employ all necessary labor to 
complete the work according to the terms of the 
contract. If after completing all work there be a 
balance in favor of the contractor, the same shall 
be paid to him; whereas if there be a deficit, the 
contractor shall refund the amount." 

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Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

Usually, with such a clause in the specifica- 
tions, the two days' notice is sufficient to induce a 
contractor to proceed with his work. 

It is well to specify explicitly where the work 
of installation will begin. For instance, a very 
good practice that applies equally to all types of 
building is to have the house sewer, including the 
main drain trap and fresh-air inlet, also the water 
service, installed under a separate contract before 
the work is commenced on the superstructure of 
the building. By this arrangement all the trench- 
ing can be done at one time, both for the founda- 
tion walls and the service and drainage pipes, thus 
avoiding the' inconvenience of having the street 
opened while the superstructure is being erected. 
Furthermore, the sewer provides means for drain- 
ing the cellar, and the service pipe furnishes water 
for building purposes. When this practice is fol- 
lowed there is no work to be done in the street and 
no permits to secure and pay for, so that the speci- 
fications relating to permits may be omitted and a 
paragraph something like the following inserted: 

*'The house sewer, fresh-air inlet and service 
pipes are already installed to the inside of the 
foundation wall. Beginning at that point the con- 
tractor shall furnish all materials and labor to com- 
plete the plumbing work according to the plans and 
specifications." 

Changes from Plans. — The aim of some con- 
tractors, once they start work on a contract, is to 
have some change made from the plan as originally 
drawn, so the contract cannot be lived up to, and 

110 



Plumbing p^ans and Specifications 



the work then becomes a sort of day affair for 
which they can charge whatever they please. To 
guard afi-«d,inst such individuals, as well as to be pre- 
pare^ for any emergency, it is well to insert a 
clause in the specifications stating just what effect 
a change from the original plans will have on both 
parties to the contract, and reciting what forms will 
be observed in case it is found necessary to deviate 
from the work as originally planned. It is well to 
always require that the contractor shall have a 
written order authorizing him to do extra work, 
without which any claims for extras will be ignored 
and payment for such claims refused, and the 
means for determining the cost of extra work should 
be specified in case of a disagreement between the 
contractor and owner or architect should arise. A 
good provision is to specify that in case of a disa- 
greement between the contractor and owner, or 
contractor and architect, as the case might be, a 
third person who should also be named shall decide; 
or else, that the cost shall be determined by arbi- 
tration, if an arbitration clause has been incorpo- 
rated in the specifications. 

Verbal Instructions About Plans and Specifi- 
cations. — Whenever, in the course of estimating, it 
becomes necessary for a contractor to resort to the 
architect to explain or make clear some provision 
in the drawings or specifications, such correction 
should be made immediately upon giving the ex- 
planation so the contractor will be justified in de- 
pending on the verbal instructions the architect 
gives him. For instance, the labor of excavating 

111 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

for the plumbing pipes is sometimes specified in the 
general specifications as part of the masoii's work, 
and in the plumbing specifications as part of the 
plumber^ s work. Likewise, the cutting and patch- 
ing throughout the building is sometimes included 
in both the carpenter's and the plumber's specifica- 
tions. 

If, in such a case, the plumbing contractor asks 
for information as to who shall do the digging, cut- 
ting and repairing, and is told that such work will 
be done by the mason and carpenter contractors re- 
spectively, but no change is made in the plumbing 
specifications by crossing out the section making it 
the plumber's duty to do such work, the plumbing 
contractor, to protect his own interests, must esti- 
mate on doing the work, as he can be held to per- 
form it in case he signs a contract to furnish all 
materials and perform all labor according to the 
plans and specifications. The only course for the 
architect to pursue in such a case is to decide im- 
mediately the matter is called to his attention, and 
cross the provision or requirement out of one speci- 
fication, leaving it in the specification where it 
rightly belongs. 

Prices for Extra Work. — Much trouble and 
many after-disputes can be avoided in large opera- 
tions by requiring in the bid a table of prices, which 
can be agreed upon beforehand, to be paid for ex- 
tra work, or to be deducted for work or fixtures 
which are omitted. In making up the schedule of 
prices, the plumber can charge his regular rate of 
wages for his workmen when sent out on jobbing 

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Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

work, and can deduct the time that would be re- 
quired to do certain work at the regular rate of 
wages price. The object is not to deprive the con- 
tractor of his just profits, but to furnish a basis for 
the ordering of extra work, for it is extra work in- 
stead of omissions which is more often ordered. 
The cost of fixtures can likewise be listed with a 
fair and reasonable margin of profit. 

Arbitration.— A clause is sometimes incorpo- 
rated in the specification stipulating that in case of 
disagreement between the parties to the contract 
that the matter shall be decided by arbitration. In 
such cases it is generally provided that three arbi- 
trators shall decide the points in dispute; that each 
party to the contract shall select one arbitrator and 
the two arbitrators so selected shall choose the 
third, and the decision of the three so chosen shall 
be final. If plumbing plans and specifications were 
always rightly prepared there would be no oppor- 
tunity for disagreements to arise, but, as in the ab- 
sence of proper drawings and description, many 
designers resort to catch clauses or salvation clauses 
to protect themselves from their own ignorance or 
stupidity, an arbitration clause will be found a pro- 
tection to the contractor, as the arbitrators decid- 
ing the case will exercise sound business judgment, 
unfettered by the rules of legal procedure which 
hedge around a case in court, and their decision 
can be depended on to be a just one. It might be 
well to add that, in the case of trial by arbitration, 
the finding of the arbitrators will be held final in 
court, so practically there is no appeal from their 

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Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

judgment. A further advantage of arbitration is 
the fact that the case can be settled without loss of 
time, as would be the case in court. 

Salvation Glauses. — When a clause to the ef- 
fect that ''The work shall be under the general 
supervision of the architect, whose decision as to 
the true intent and meaning of the drawings and 
specifications will be final and conclusive/' or any 
other salvation clause of like purport, appears in a 
specification, it is a written confession that the per- 
son who prepared the plans and specifications in 
question did not understand his business, knew his 
limitations, and is trying to protect his ignorance 
by hedging himself around with a number of clauses 
which, in matters of dispute, vest him with un- 
limited arbitrary authority to decide the case in his 
own favor, regardless of the merits or justice of the 
case. If plans are properly prepared and specifica- 
tions capably written there will be no question as 
to their true intent and meaning; if they are not 
clear and explicit, it is the construction put upon 
them by the reader, not the writer, which should 
be final and conclusive. The designer in preparing 
his drawings and specifications knows, or ought to 
know, what he wants to show and describe. Hav- 
ing this knowledge and ample time at his disposal, 
he is supposed to have made a record of his desires. 
If through ignorance or lack of ability he fails in 
his effort, he alone is the one who should stand re- 
sponsible for the failure. Such designers, however, 
usually try to shift the responsibility to the con- 
tractor by reserving to themselves unlimited arbi- 

114 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

trary power, concealed in innocent-looking salva- 
tion clauses similar to the one quoted. When an 
estimator is given a set of drawings and a specifi- 
cation on which to base his estimate for work, he 
is justified in believing that the architect or engi- 
neer has expressed himself fully and clearly in his 
work. He cannot read the designer's mind to learn 
what was intended, but must base his estimate upon 
his interpretation of the drawings and specifica- 
tions furnished him. If the designer had one thing 
in mind, but unable to express it, has conveyed an 
entirely different impression, or has left much un- 
said and undrawn which he had planned in his 
mind to show and state, the contractor should not 
be called upon to include such work and material in 
the contract as fully as though shown by the plans 
and described in the specifications, but this he can 
be made to do under the salvation clauses of igno- 
rant or dishonest architects or engineers. 

Guaranteeing Work and Materials.— A section 
requiring that the contractor guarantees his work 
against defects in workmanship and materials for 
a period of two years from the date of completion 
is sometimes incorporated in a specification. Such 
a condition, however, is better left out. With the 
exception of a very few grades of fixtures no ma- 
terials entering into the makeup of a plumbing in- 
stallation are guaranteed. Care is exercised to 
send out only goods which are sound, flawless and 
in good merchantable condition, but if after the 
lapse of several months, or weeks, for that matter, 
the goods fail for any reason, it is at the owner's 

115 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

expense. As the materials which the architect 
specifies are not guaranteed, the insertion of a 
clause in a specification requiring the plumber to 
guarantee other people's wares imposes upon him 
the duty of an insurer of goods, and if the con- 
tractor be a responsible one he will allow in his esti- 
mate a sufficient amount to cover any possible dam- 
age, however remote, which might occur during the 
two years he is responsible for the plumbing. Ir- 
responsible contractors might ignore the clause, 
having no intention of living up to it, but in that 
case the responsible contractor is put at a disad- 
vantage and might lose the work to an indifferent 
and irresponsible one on account of the guarantee. 
At its best such a clause is an additional expense to 
the owner. With the merchantable goods now on 
the market the repairs due to defective materials in 
the two years succeeding completion of a contract 
will be so slight that they will cost the owner much 
less than a responsible contractor will exact for 
guaranteeing the work for that length of time. He 
has to figure on possibiHties to protect himself, 
while the owner would have to pay only for actual 
repairs. 

Payments. — It is well to state in the specifica- 
tions the plan of payment. Where the terms of 
payment are not stated, many contractors are 
frightened oif from big work by the fear that a 
large amount of their working-capital will be in- 
definitely tied up in the building. The terms of 
payment are of as much importance to a careful 
contractor as is the ownership of the buildings, or 

116 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

who is to superintend the installation; and he is en- 
titled to know this important fact before submit- 
ting his bid. Another important consideration to 
bear in mind is the fact that when everything ap- 
pertaining to the contract is stated in the specifica- 
tions, a sim_ple line accepting the offer of the con- 
tractor "to furnish all labor and material according 
to the plans and specifications," for a certain 
amount, closes the contract without further for- 
mality. It does also when the terms of payment 
are not stated in the specifications, but in such case 
the contractor is not entitled to payment until the 
work is entirely completed and accepted. Of course, 
that right of the owner to have the work completed 
before payment can be waived, and usually is 
waived, but the uncertainty as to terms often de- 
ters a responsible concern from estimating on 
work. 

On small installations, payments are usually 
made in three different stages of the work. The 
first payment is usually made when the roughing- 
in is completed, and the amount is based on the net 
cost of the work to the plumber, less a certain per- 
centage, usually 10 per cent, held back until the 
final payment, as a protection to the owner in case 
the contractor refuses or is unable to proceed with 
his contract. The second payment is usually made 
when all fixtures and finishing materials are deliv- 
ered on the premises, and the final payment when 
the work is satisfactorily completed and accepted. 

In large installations the work is usually paid 
for monthly, on certificates from the architect, who 

117 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

deducts 10 per cent, from each monthly payment, 
which is reserved for the final payment. 

Temporary Closet Accommodations. — Some 
toilet facilities are necessary for the workmen while 
engaged in erecting the building, and temporary 
closet accommodations are always provided for in 
the specifications for large installations, unless the 
temporary accommodations have been provided for 
before the plumbing contract is let. Ordinarily one 
water closet or its equivalent in a range closet will 
be sufficient for each fifteen men engaged on the 
building. The location and manner of connecting 
the temporary closets to the drainage system are 
so much a matter peculiar to each installation that 
no further information regarding them can be 
given. 

Reading Elements Into Specifications.— Archi- 
tects often unreasonably assume that because they 
have specified certain work to be installed, without 
stating in detail how the work is to be done, but 
have inserted a salvation clause to the effect that 
' 'all work must be done to the satisfaction of the 
architect," materials not shown on the plans or 
called for in the specifications, either specifically, 
or by implication as obviously necessary to the com- 
pletion of the work, must be provided to fulfil the 
contract. Such a position is unwarranted and un- 
reasonable. Under the salvation clause mentioned, 
any work actually specified can be made to conform 
to the architect's satisfaction, provided the unusual 
is not exacted. 

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Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

For instance, if extra heavy soil pipe be speci- 
fied for the vertical stacks of soil, waste and vent 
pipes w^hich are shown run exposed, and nothing is 
said as to what make of soil pipe shall be used, any- 
merchantable grade of pipe will comply with the 
requirements of the specifications. Of course, there 
is a vast difference in appearance between different 
makes of soil pipe. The product of some manufac- 
turers is straight, smooth and of the very best 
workmanship, while that of other manufacturers 
is rough and not of such good quality. 

It is customary in writing plumbing specifica- 
tions to state that the pipe * 'shall be sound, cylin- 
drical and smooth, free from sand holes, cracks 
and other defects,'' but in the absence of any such 
clause the architect would not be justified in con- 
demning work and requiring the substitution of a 
better quality of pipe or the filing and sandpaper- 
ing of that already in, because it is exposed and he 
wants the work to present a smooth, attractive ap- 
pearance. If any such unusual requirement was 
in the architect's mind, and was to be enforced, it 
should have been stated in the specifications, and 
if it was not, any good quality of pipe would com- 
ply with the wording of the specifications. Fur- 
ther, no salvation clause can read materials into a 
specification that are not specifically or by implica- 
tion called for. To illustrate: in the foregoing ex- 
ample of soil, waste and vent stacks, if thimbles 
are not shown on the drawing nor called for in the 
specifications where the pipes pass through walls 
and partitions, nor escutcheons required at floors, 
ceilings and walls, such materials would not be re- 

119 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

quired according to the correct interpretation of 
the plans and specifications, and to insist on them 
being installed as part of a contract, on the ground 
that the work must be done to the satisfaction of 
the architect, is reading an element into the plans 
and specifications which does not really exist; and 
is an injustice to the contractor as well as dishonest 
in the architect or engineer. The rule is that any- 
work called for or materials specified must con- 
form to the standard for such work. Interpreting 
a salvation clause strictly as it should be interpret- 
ed gives that much and no more authority to the 
architect. Insisting that the work specified con- 
form to his satisfaction does not give the architect 
power to insist on work not specified, and require 
that it be up to the standard of the work actually 
specified. 

Honesty and fair dealing must obtain between 
architect and contractor, if both are to be satisfied 
and successful in their respective callings. If the 
plumbing contractor is constantly trying to miscon- 
strue provisions in the specifications into some ad- 
vantage to himself, it will not be long before his 
name w-ill be dropped from the roll of eligibles in the 
various architects' offices. The architect, on the 
other hand, if he exact more than his plans and 
specifications call for, on the ground that he will 
withhold payment until his unreasonable demands 
are complied with, will soon find that contractors 
have learned his work is not worth having and 
will refuse to estimate on his contract. 

When such a state of affairs comes about the 
architect will find himself in the position of a 

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Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

couple of big institutions in the country where, for 
fear they will secure the work, all contractors 
double the cost of the estimate and add from 50 to 
100 per cent, for profit. It is needless to say that 
the institutions spoken of pay for their plumbing 
work more than double what a like amount and 
quahty would cost fair-dealing individuals. 

Specifying Weights of Pipes. — There are no 
standard weights for pipes established by law for 
the grades known as strong, extra strong, heavy, 
extra heavy and standard, and while the weights 
corresponding to the grades are generally estab- 
lished by agreement among manufacturers, there 
is nothing to prevent manufacturers outside of the 
association, or even those within, manufacturing a 
lighter grade of pipe and designating it by the 
usual trade name; consequently, when specifying 
lead, iron, brass or other kind of pipe, it is well to 
not only specify it by the trade name for that 
weight, but to append a table of weights to which 
the pipe must conform. 

Weights and Quality of Brass Goods.— There 

is no uniformity in the manufacture of brass goods 
used in plumbing, and no official or government 
standards to which they must conform, so in order 
to insure a proper grade of brass work being sup- 
plied, not only the weights, but likewise the qual- 
ity of brass, should be specified. 

Testing the Drainage Pipes. — In the absence 
of a plumbing law requiring that the drainage sys- 
tem be tested before being passed by the inspector, 
it is not necessary for the contractor to test the 

121 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

work unless expressly called for in the specifica- 
tions. For this reason a clause should be insert- 
ed in every specification requiring the contractor 
to test the entire drainage system in the presence 
of the architect or his representative, and specify- 
ing how many tests shall be applied and how they 
shall be made. 

Connections to Drains. — In the absence of 
drawings showing the kind of fittings to be used, 
in cities where there are no plumbing codes, almost 
any branch from saddle hubs to T fittings may be 
used, unless Y branches are called for in the speci- 
fications. For this reason it is well to specify just 
what kind of fittings will, and what will not, be 
allowed in the work, and likewise state, if not al- 
ready shown, the distance from doors, windows and 
other openings that vent pipes must end. 




122 




PLANNING PLUMBING WORK 



CHAPTER IX 

REQUIREMENTS FOR VARIOUS TYPES 
OF BUILDINGS 




GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 

VEN though a designer knows what 
symbols to use, how to indicate plumb- 
ing work on plans, how to lay out the 
work, write the specifications and su- 
perintend the installation, he will some- 
times be at a loss to know just what kinds and 
number of plumbing fixtures will be required in 
buildings of different classes. Very few architects 
are called upon during their business careers to 
build a prison, library, church, hotel, public com- 
fort station, hospital, sanitarium, school, court 
house, Y. M. C. A. building, theater, or like struc- 
tures; yet, if commissioned to do so, must be able 
to rise to the occasion. Numerous works can be 
had teaching them the principles of design, and ar- 
chitectural papers are full of good examples of the 

123 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

different classes of buildings; but nowhere can 
there be found an authoritative work analyzing the 
requirements and pointing out just what is desira- 
ble in the way of plumbing in buildings designed 
for different purposes. In this section, therefore, 
an effort is made to supply this much-needed infor- 
mation. Examples of the various classes of build- 
ings are shown, but no effort is made to indicate 
the layout of the plumbing systems. Instead, only 
the architectural requirements in the way of plumb- 
ing appHances are considered, and any plumbing 
plans or details incorporated are more in the nature 
of incidental matter thrown in for whatever value 
they may possess. 

It is assumed that if the designer knows just 
what plumbing fixtures and appHances are required 
in a certain type of building he either knows, or 
can learn from the preceding chapters of this work, 
how to indicate them on the plans. 

Wherever people live or congregate for a period 
of time, toilet accommodations must be provided 
for their comfort. For instance, temporary grand 
stands for viewing parades, likewise ball grounds 
and stadia for the holding of field games, must all 
have plumbing fixtures for the accommodation of 
the patrons of the games or sport, even though 
they are assembled there only for a short time; 
while buildings where people reside must likewise 
be well supplied with sanitary conveniences; and 
each class of structure will possess conditions pe- 
culiar to itself and present problems which differ 
more or less from the others, 

124 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

The first consideration when designing the 
plumbing for any class of structure is to find the 
source of water, and learn where and how the sew- 
age will be disposed. 

If no system of sewage is available, the method 
of treating and the place of final disposal of the 
sewage must be worked out before the plumbing 
work within the building can be intelligently de- 
signed. If, on the other hand, a system of sewers 
is available, the depth of the main sewer in the 
street must be ascertained to see if there is suffi- 
cient fall for a gravity discharge or whether sub- 
sewer ejectors will be required for the basement 
and sub-basement floors of the building. 

No less important is the source, quality and 
pressure of the water supply. If a pure filtered 
water can be had from street mains, under suffi- 
cient pressure to supply all fixtures in the building, 
the problem simmers down to proportioning the 
sizes of supply pipes, securing an adequate main 
from the street and laying out a suitable and eco- 
nomical system of pipes. Should the water be hard, 
however, the question of softening must be consid- 
ered, if hard water is undesirable. If, again, the 
water is from a surface source, and unfiltered, 
whether delivered through city mains or impound- 
ed for the particular building, filtration should un- 
questionably be resorted to, and the question of 
what method to employ would naturally follow. 
For country institutions the securing of a water 
supply is sometimes a difficult problem, and the 
method of elevating and storing the water must 
likewise be carefully considered. When the out- 

125 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

side problems of sewer and water supply are fully 
worked out, and planned up to the foundation walls 
of the building, the real work of planning the 
plumbing work within commences, and the differ- 
ent problems will be considered under the classes 
of buildings to which they belong. 




126 




CHAPTER X 




PLANNING THE PLUMBING 
FOR RESIDENCES 




F ALL classes of buildings the home is 
the most important. Here the family 
spends most of its time, and no detail 
which will conduce to its convenience 
or comfort should be omitted. Of all 
details which enter into the building of a home, 
nothing adds so much to the comfort and welfare 
of the inmates as plenty of water. This necessity 
for plenty of running water in residences is reflect- 
ed by the tendency of the times toward a bath room 
in connection with each sleeping-room or in connec- 
tion with each suite of rooms. Where lack of space 
or other considerations prevent the installment of 
a bath room in connection with each bedroom, one 
bath room is made to serve two or more rooms, and 
in the more moderate-priced houses one bath room 
is made to serve for the whole family. 

Where bath rooms are not provided in connec- 
tion with sleeping-rooms, provision is made, where 
cost permits, for running water in every bedroom. 
With a lavatory in each sleeping-room or in a dress- 

127 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

ing-room adjoining the sleeping-room, one bath 
room can be made to serve very nicely for the 
whole family, provided there are toilet accommo- 
dations in the servants' quarters. When consider- 
ing the cost of installing stationary lavatories in 
the various sleeping-rooms, it should be borne in 
mind that, if stationary lavatories are not provid- 
ed, portable basins, pitchers and wash stands will 
be required in the furnishing of the bedrooms; and, 
unless the runs of pipe are particularly long and 
difficult, stationary lavatories will generally be 
found the cheaper of the two methods. 

Where only one bath room is provided for a 
family, a good plan is to locate the water closet in 
a small compartment adjoining the bath room and 
accessible from either the bath room or the hall. 
By this arrangement the closet will be accessible 
while the bath room is in use, and, conversely, the 
bath room will be accessible when the closet com- 
partment is occupied. 

This requirement of separate bath-room and 
water-closet compartments is not necessary where 
there are two or more family water closets in the 
building, and, on account of space, it cannot al- 
ways be had in buildings where there is only one 
bath room. The layout is worth bearing in mind, 
however, for use in places where it can be applied. 

Bath-Room Fixtures. — The question of what 
fixtures to put in a bath room is one which gener- 
ally can be answered only by the owner of the 
building, and no doubt will be settled by his wife. 
Women, as a rule, take a particular pride in this 

128 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

part of the home, and have their own opinions of 
what it should contain. Of course, there will be 
the three usual fixtures — closet, lavatory and bath 
tub. If there is a shower, also, it is a concession 
to the male part of the family, for comparatively 
few women like a shower bath. If a shower is to 
be part of the equipment, the designer has choice 
of a variety of designs, from the simple shower 
above the bath tub to a complete needle shower and 
spray bath set over a receptor. It may be possible 
that the owner wishes hydroelectric baths or Hght 
baths in addition to the usual outfit, in which case 
provision must be made for the apparatus. 

Bidets or bidet attachments to water closets 
may be part of the equipment desired by some own- 
ers, while foot baths or sitz baths might be desired 
by others. It is well when taking up the matter of 
fixtures with the owner to call attention to the vari- 
ous kinds of fixtures and explain their various uses. 
Oftentimes fixtures are omitted for the only reason 
that the owner is not aware that such appliances 
are made, or, if he knows, is not familiar with their 
uses. 

Urinals are seldom used in private houses nor 
is there a demand for them. Ordinarily a water 
closet will serve the purpose far better and with 
much less offense. When installed, urinals are gen- 
erally placed in a compartment adjoining a billiard 
room or some other part of the house where men 
congregate. 

No less important than the kind and number 
of bath room fixtures, is the size and quality. If 
comfort is to be had while taking a bath, the archi- 

129 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

tect must see that the fixture is large enough so 
the bather will not have to fold up in order to get 
inside; and that along with its other dimensions, 
it is deep enough, up to the overflow, so that the 
user will be at least partly submerged. Bathtubs 
range in size from 4| feet to 6 feet, and it is safe 
to say that nothing less than a 5i-foot tub should 
be installed in a private house. The bath room 
likewise should be large and roomy. There is no 
comfort in using a fixture in a narrow, cramped 
room, where the bather cannot move his arms with- 
out fear of bumping elbows or knocking something 
onto the floor. A bath room with a floor space of 
from 50 to 60 square feet is a fair size for an ordi- 
nary building, while for more pretentious houses 
they may run as. high as 100 square feet or more. 

Slop Sinks. — In the ordinary small dwelling- 
house there is no crying need for slop sinks, but in 
great rambling country homes or large city resi- 
dences slop sinks scattered throughout the building 
on the various floors will save their cost in wear and 
tear on other fixtures which otherwise would be- 
come damaged by pails and other vessels used for 
drawing water and emptying slops. Besides, if slop 
sinks are not convenient on the several floors ser- 
vants are liable to use lavatories, bath tubs or like 
fixtures in their stead, a practice which would be 
anything but commendable. When slop sinks are 
installed they may be located in closets or small 
rooms which serve the purpose of containing the 
pails, brooms, mops and other articles required by 
the servants in cleaning the rooms. 

130 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

Nursery. — For the large house which contains 
a nursery it is well to bear in mind that there are 
children's fixtures which may be fitted up in a 
child's bath room located conveniently near. The 
child's closet is only 12 inches in height, and made 
in proportion, while the child's bath tub is set on a 
pedestal intended to raise the fixture a convenient 
height, 30 to 33 inches, for the nurses to bathe the 
children without discomfort. So far no lavatory 
has been designed for children, but they can be 
made on demand and are only awaiting the order. 
No doubt low-down fixtures designed in proportion 
to their height would find a ready field not only in 
nurseries but in foundling asylums, schools and 
other places where a large number of small chil- 
dren are housed. 

Kitchen Fixtures.— A kitchen sink with a suit- 
able drain board is the only real kitchen fixture if 
the hot water tank is omitted. Of course, in some 
kitchens the laundry tubs are likewise located 
there, but laundry tubs belong properly to a sepa- 
rate compartment — the laundry. If an ice box is 
to be located in the kitchen or pantry, provision 
should be made for carrying off the drip; but out- 
side of such fixtures no other provision need be 
made in the kitchen of a residence. 

Pantry Sinks. — If the house has a pantry, a 
pantry sink will be found desirable. This may be 
of any material, but porcelain or copper is pre- 
ferred, with high goose-neck pantry cocks. Usually 
the cold-water pantry cocks have hose ends for at- 
taching so-called ''filters." The httle reversible 

131 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

strainers attached to them, however, fall far short 
of being filters. Indeed, they are more in the na- 
ture of incubators where innumerable colonies of 
bacteria are cultivated, and the water is better 
drawn direct from the cock without passing through 
the strainer. 

Laundry Fixtures. — In the moderate-priced 
homes, the laundry trays are located either in the 
kitchen or in the basement, and much may be said 
in favor of each location. If the laundry is located 
in the cellar it necessitates an extra stove for boil- 
ing the clothes and imposes extra work on the ser- 
vant carrying the clothes down to wash and up 
again to hang out, to say nothing of the extra steps 
that must be taken answering rings at the door 
bells. Further, it makes inconvenient the servant's 
work, for she cannot well do her washing and at 
the same time tend to the meals which are cooking. 
On the other hand, if the laundry is located in the 
cellar and well partitioned off, there is less danger 
of the steam and odor permeating the living- 
rooms. 

In the larger, more expensive homes a separate 
laundry, located on the ground floor, adjoining the 
kitchen, will be found desirable. This will afford 
light, air and easy access to the yard to hang out 
clothes, as well as a direct means of approach to 
the outside doors, and supervision of the kitchen. 
The completely equipped laundry will have three 
laundry trays, a washing-machine, either power or 
hand; centrifugal wringer or separator for remov- 
ing the free water from clothes; a clothes drier and 

132 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

I I III I I I I ■ ■» I I,, 

a gas -heated hand mangle. Provision should be 
made in the yard for drying clothes in the open air 
during favorable v^eather, the driers being reserved 
only for stormy days. Of course, an iron stove, 
which can be used also for boiling clothes, and the 
usual ironing horses and other portable pieces will 
likewise be required, but the latter partake more 
of the nature of furnishings than fixtures. 

So far no manufacturer of plumbing goods has 
had sufficient enterprise to adapt an ordinary porta- 
ble washing machine, such as are sold by hardware 
stores, and are run by water motor or electric mo- 
tor, to an ordinary laundry tray. This is a matter 
which could easily be done, and there is a large 
field awaiting such a fixture. 

Hot Water for Residences. — In planning the 
hot-water supply for residences, the possibility of 
an adequate and economical supply without the 
usual hot-water tank and range waterback should 
not be overlooked. In residences where gas is used 
for cooking purposes, hot water for domestic use 
may likewise be heated at small cost by means of a 
Ruud type of water heater. Very little fuel is re- 
quired by the pilot Hght, which is all the fuel used 
when water is not being drawn, while at the same 
time an inexhaustible supply of hot water is con- 
stantly at hand. In addition to the Ruud type of 
heaters there are apparatus which heat water in- 
stantaneously with gas but are available only for a 
few fixtures. These heaters may be had at low 
cost, will prove very satisfactory in many of the 
cheaper residences where a permanent supply of 

133 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

water is out of the question, and will be found 
equally serviceable for heating water at summer 
homes and camps. When desirable, alcohol, kero- 
sene or gasoline may be used as a fuel instead of 
gas. 

Filter. — Every residence supplied with water 
from a surface source, which is not filtered, should 
be provided with a germ-proof filter of suitable size 
to sterilize all water entering the premises. Filters 
are not so costly that they would be dispensed with 
on that account, and if the owners of residences 
had explained to them the value and protection to 
health afforded by this means it is safe to say that 
not 10 per cent, of them would be without one. As 
the filter is located in the cellar, where it is not 
often seen, it is Hable to be overlooked unless men- 
tioned by the architect. 

Doctors' and Dentists' Homes. — A doctor's 
home differs from an ordinary home only when his 
office is located there. Under such conditions the 
doctor's office may well be located in one wing of 
the building, isolated from the home proper. Just 
what will be required by a doctor will depend on 
his practice and the extent to which he wants to 
go in fitting up his office. If surgical operations 
are to be conducted a more elaborate equipment 
will be necessary than for a general practitioner. 
At all events, a disinfecting -room containing a 
shower bath should be part of every office suite, so 
that the doctor can thoroughly disinfect his clothes 
and person, after being exposed to contagion, before 
entering his home proper. If surgical cases are to 

134 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

be operated upon, in addition to the floor drain and 
running water for the operating table a hospital 
slop sink and hospital lavatory with foot valves 
will be found convenient. Usually, however, the 
physician has his own opinion of what is wanted 
and all that is necessary is to follow instructions. 
At all events, the best plan would be to consult 
him. 

In a dentist's office little is needed in the way 
of plumbing outside of a lavatory and water and 
waste attachment to the cuspidor at the side of the 
operating-table. If the drilling-machine used is to 
be operated by a water motor an outlet will like- 
wise be required for that purpose. 

Noiseless Plumbing in Residences. — A very 
disagreeable feature of plumbing work in the home 
is the noise due to the operation of plumbing fix- 
tures. In many residences the operation of the 
water closet in the bath room can be heard all over 
the building. Such noise, however, is unnecessary 
and can be avoided by intelligent design of the 
system and judicious selection of fixtures. Among 
the many closet combinations carried by the vari- 
ous manufacturers, each manufacturer has some 
one fixture which is less noisy than the rest, and 
for that reason is more suitable than the other fix- 
tures for residence work. It is well to be acquaint- 
ed with the various closets of the manufacturers 
so that when a noiseless one is wanted it can be 
specified by catalogue plate and number. But even 
when the closet is noiseless in operation, noiseless 
plumbing is not assured unless the supply and waste 

135 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

pipes are likewise proportioned to their several 
uses. If the supply pipes are too small there will 
be a disagreeable hissing sound when water is being 
drawn, not only at closet fixtures but at other 
points in the building. Further, if the pressure is 
high and properly designed faucets or suitable air 
chambers are not provided there will be a pound- 
ing noise when a faucet is closed, due to water 
hammer. These sources of trouble can be elimi- 
nated by using slow-closing faucets and large-size 
supply pipes to the various fixtures. 

The noise of water from closet fixtures flowing 
through the soil pipe can be decreased in volume 
by using 3-inch soil pipes in the partitions, and the 
remaining noise can be almost entirely done away 
with by filling the space around the pipe and be- 
tween the laths and plaster of the partition with 
some non- sound -conducting substance. Finally, 
the partitions around a bath room should be sound 
proofed, and, so far as possible, doors for bath 
rooms should be used through which but little sound 
will pass. 

Turkish Baths in the Home.— In addition to 
the usual bath rooms a Turkish bath, or sweat 
room, will be found an additional source of health 
and comfort in the home. The inducing of a copi- 
ous perspiration is the chief function of a Turkish 
bath, all other operations being secondary thereto. 
Consequently, if a small compartnfient be fitted up 
so that it can be heated to a high temperature, the 
first part of the bath, the sweating process, will be 
provided for, and the wash, shower and plunge 

136 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




o > 
QO 



lU 

I 






'«;.>"i-i^;u. . 
Fig. 80 
First Floor Plan of Private House 



137 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

following can be had in the usual bath-room fix- 
tures. 

It is not a difficult or expensive matter to pro- 
vide a Turkish bath in private houses, and, consid- 
ering their value, and the fact that those who can 
afford it resort to the public baths, it is surprising 
that more of the expensive houses are not thus 
equipped. Large country homes in particular could 
have fitted up, at small expense, bathing compart- 
ments which would rival or exceed the private 
baths of ancient Rome. 

EXAMPLES OF RESIDENCE 
PLUMBING 

The first-floor plan of a residence is shown in 
Fig. 80. In this building a separate laundry is 
provided in the basement, so that the sink is the 
only plumbing fixture in the kitchen. A pantry 
sink is provided in the butler's pantry, adjoining 
the dining-room, and toilet accommodations, con- 
sisting of lavatory and water closet, are provided 
for the servants in a toilet compartment adjoining 
the kitchen but accessible only from the hall. A 
window in this compartment serves to ventilate 
t"he room and insure a constant change of air. 

The second floor of the same building is shown 
in Fig. 81. This plan is interesting in that it points 
out very forcibly the extent to which bath rooms 
are provided in modern homes. Of the five sleep- 
ing rooms on this floor four of them are direct 
connected to bath rooms, and a bath room is ac- 
cessible to the remaining bedroom by traversing a 

138 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




Fig. 81 
Second Floor Plan of Private House 

139 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

few steps across the hall. As the two bedrooms to 
the left of this illustration are made communicating 
it might almost be said that each bed room is direct 
connected to a bath room. 

If so many bath rooms are found desirable in a 
building built as compact as this one, where a cen- 
trally located toilet room could be reached from 
any bedroom in a few steps, how much more neces- 
sary are they in large, rambling structures, with 
numerous wings and long corridors, that would 
have to be traversed by guests or family to avail 
themselves of its advantages if only one bath room 
were provided ! There is nothing in a home prob- 
ably that conduces so much to the comfort of the 
inmates as a communicating bath room, where the 
morning dip can be taken immediately upon rising 
without running the gauntlet of all the inmates 
and servants to reach the tub; and the first aim of 
an architect should be to make the home comfort- 
able. 

Sometimes less money is available for plumbing 
in the house, and the problem is to secure the great- 
est number of conveniences for the least outlay. 
This has been well accomphshed in the three fol- 
lowing plans of a Colonial home of moderate cost. 
The basement plan. Fig. 82, shows the general lay- 
out of the water supply and drainage system, but 
the cellar contains no fixtures except the water 
heater. 

The first floor of this building is shown in Fig. 
83. This floor is noticeable more for the absence 
of plumbing fixtures than anything else; still, at 
the same time, there are enough for all require- 

140 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



4r-f Hose Connectfoti. 



^ Hose Connection .- 

Fig. 82 
Cellar Plan of Residence 

141 




a 



n 



Sen/lcaPipe. 

-Cold Vater. 



ttot 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

ments. The kitchen in this instance is used as a 
laundry, and a set of two laundry tubs is provided 
adjoining the sink. These tubs have ash tops 
which, when down, serve as table space for the 
servant. 

The plumbing features of this building are 
mostly contained on the second floor, shown in Fig. 
84. Here, in addition to the bath room, which is 
common to all the inmates, each bedroom has a 
lavatory. These lavatories are so located that they 
are not visible in the bedrooms, take up but little 
space where they are, and being located back to 
back one set of pipes serves for each pair, so that 
the cost need be but little more than the fixtures. 
Fixtures can be purchased for any price, from 
twelve dollars upward, so that stationary lavatories, 
with all their conveniences, can be had in sleep- 
ing-rooms for but little more than the cost of port- 
able wash basins, and for far less than the basin, 
pitcher and stand. 

Owing to the fact that two of the closets where 
the basins are located are inside rooms they are de- 
prived of the benefits of natural light and ventila- 
tion through windows. To offset this disadvantage 
the lavatories in these two rooms are located along- 
side of the doors, so that, so far as sanitary consid- 
erations are concerned, they may be considered as 
though set outside of the partitions in the sleeping- 
rooms, where there is both light and ventilation. 

A feature incorporated in this building, but too 
often omitted from buildings whose owners could 
well afford the cost, is the housekeeper's bath room 
adjoining her sleeping-room. Cleanliness begins 

142 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




Fig. 83 
First Floor Plan of Residence 



143 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

with the person, and if the housekeeper has no 
means of keeping clean it cannot be expected that 
she will be overscrupulous about the food she pre- 
pares or the building she looks after. The best way, 
then, to insure a good clean home and wholesome 
meals is to start with the housekeeper's quarters 
and see that they possess all the sanitary advan- 
tages of the rest of the house. That, together with 
a living room for her, will go a long way toward 
solving the so-called help problem, not to mention 
the satisfaction it should give the owner. 

In the layout of fixtures for the bath room a 
better arrangement would have been to locate the 
water closet in a separate compartment adjoining 
the bath room and accessible either from the bath 
room or the hall. To do so, however, would have 
necessitated cutting up that part of the floor to a 
considerable extent, and would have spoiled one of 
the sleeping-rooms, unless the building were made 
larger. In short, it could be done only by sacri- 
ficing a room, or enlarging the building at great ex- 
pense, which it did not warrant. If desired, an 
emergency closet could be put in the cellar, but, 
with a lavatory in every bedroom in the building, a 
separate closet would hardly be necessary, although 
it would be desirable. 

Vacuum outfits for cleaning buildings cannot 
properly be considered plumbing work, but, as they 
are a sanitary feature of buildings, and have not 
as yet been given the consideration they merit in 
planning the home, it will not be amiss to mention 
them here. They are, comparatively, so inexpen- 
sive and require so little piping that it would seem 

144 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




-5£C0NDrLQQR-PlA.N: 

Fig-. 84 
Second Floor Plan of Residence 



145 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

they should be incorporated in every residence, not 
to mention other classes of buildings, and the cost 
of operation is correspondingly small. 

In the building under consideration a vacuum 
pump is shown on the cellar plan, and the four 
outlets for attaching hose are marked on the first 
and second floor plans. 




146 




APARTMENT HOUSE 




PLANNING THE PLUMBING IN 
APARTMENT HOUSES 



N THIS work the term * 'apartment 
house'' is used to designate all classes 
of buildings where many housekeeping 
apartments are gathered together un- 
der one roof; not in its more narrow 
suite of rooms without facilities for 



a 



sense of 
cooking. 

There is great variety in the design of plumb- 
ing in apartment houses, which differ from the cold- 
water flat of the cheaper buildings to the most ex- 
pensive suites of rooms, sometimes occupying two 
floors of the building, but isolated from all other 
apartments and provided with all the sanitary ad- 
vantages of the better class of private houses. 
Whatever the class of building, however, there are 
certain requirements common to them all, and the 
real differences between the cheapest and most ex- 
pensive will be found to consist more in the cost and 
number of fixtures than in the kinds. As an apart- 
ment house is merely an aggregation of private liv- 

147 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

ing apartments gathered together under one roof, it 
stands to reason that each apartment must have 
the kitchen, laundry and bath-room fixtures com- 
mon to a private house. These the moderate-sized 
apartments have, while in addition thereto expen- 
sive apartments have butler's pantry, bath room in 
connection with each room or suite of rooms and 
servants' bath, just as in the better class of resi- 
dences. In some apartments a separate laundry is 
provided in the basement or attic for the use of all 
the tenants. In such cases the usual set of two or 
three laundry trays may be omitted from the vari- 
ous apartments, but one tub should be provided in 
each for the lighter washing inseparable from all 
households. 

In the general laundry, unless the landlord fur- 
nishes fuel for boiling the clothes, provision should 
be made, if gas is used, so that each tenant will 
have to supply his own fuel, and provision should 
be made, in addition to outdoor lines, for drying 
clothes during inclement weather. 

In planning the plumbing in an apartment 
house, for economical reasons, the fixtures should 
be grouped together as much as possible to minimize 
the sets of vertical pipes that will have to be ex- 
tended up through the building. For instance, by 
placing the kitchens over one another, and likewise 
the bath rooms in the same relative position on the 
several floors, one set of pipes will serve for each 
tier of fixtures. If, however, the bath rooms and 
kitchens can be placed adjoining each other one set 
of pipes will serve for both the kitchens and bath 
rooms. Carrying the principle still further, if the 

148 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




149 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

kitchen fixtures in two adjoining flats can be set 
against the bath-room partition, or adjoining it, 
and at the same time back to back or end to end 
against the partition separating the kitchens, one 
set of pipes can be made to serve for the four tiers 
of fixtures, thereby keeping down considerably the 
cost of the plumbing installation. Oftentimes such 
an arrangement is not consistent with the layout of 
the rooms, but the possibility of such a plan should 
be kept in mind. 

The hot- water supply for apartment buildings 
may be furnished from a central plant, located in 
the boiler room, as is usual in the better class of 
buildings; or, each apartment may supply its own 
water from a water back in the range, and store it 
in an individual tank. This latter method is com- 
monly resorted to in cheaper classes of buildings 
where the operating expenses are to be kept down. 
It is more expensive to install, however, amounting 
in some cases to several times the cost of a central 
plant. 

What has been said in the chapter on residence 
plumbing will apply equally to apartment work. 
This is particularly true of noisy plumbing, which 
it is as desirable to avoid in apartment houses as in 
private homes. Indeed, the two classes of build- 
ings do not differ from each other in principle. 
They both are residences, only in one case they are 
detached while in the other they are assembled un- 
der one roof. About the only feature of apartment 
work which differs from residence work is the re- 
quirement for a stack of refrigerator wastes to 
carry off the drip from the ice-chests. 

150 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




to a 

00 <{ 

^ o 



^ 



^ 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

Example of Apartment House Plans. — In Fig. 
85 is shown the basement-floor plan of a moderate- 
priced apartnient house. One end of the basement 
is occupied by the janitor's quarters, which, on ac- 
count of the grade of the street, are above ground. 
In the janitor's apartment will be found a kitchen 
and a bath room as fully equipped as in any other 
part of the building. In the other end of the build- 
ing is located the water-heating apparatus in the 
boiler room adjoining the coal bin. As would be 
inferred from that fact, the building throughout 
is supplied with hot water from this source. 

The main, or first floor, plan is shown in Fig. 
86. The building, which stands on a corner, is, di- 
vided in the center by the vestibule and main hall, 
so that one apartment occupies each end of the 
structure and is isolated from all other apartments, 
thereby insuring privacy. 

The second and third floor plans are shown in 
Fig. 87 and the fourth-floor plan is shown in Fig. 
88. It will be noticed that at the end of the dress- 
ers in the several kitchens, ice chests are indicated, 
and drip pans connected to refrigerator waste pipes 
are provided for each ice box. The bath rooms are 
each equipped with a full set of fixtures— bath tub, 
water closet and lavatory — and the kitchen contains 
a sink and set of two laundry trays. If a separate 
laundry were provided in the cellar one of these 
laundry trays could be omitted from each kitchen. 

A feature of this building which will bear ex- 
amination is the grouping of fixtures close together. 
It will be observed that eight-inch partitions are 
provided between the bath rooms and kitchens, and 

152 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




153 



Plumbing Plans and^ Specifications 

in these partitions the soil and vent stacks for each 
tier of apartments are run. By so grouping the 
fixtures one set of risers is made to do for each 
half of the building, so that only two soil and vent 
stacks are required for the entire installation. 

Overflows for Apartment -House Fixtures.— 

In fitting up the plumbing in apartment houses, or 
in designing the layout and writing the specifica- 
tions, one special provision is necessary that is not 
of so much importance in residence work. This 
special requirement is the providing of overflow 
pipes for each fixture or set of fixtures, particu- 
larly if the fixtures are provided with stoppers. 
Take a set of laundry trays, for instance. If clothes 
were put to soak over night, and one of the faucets 
did not shut off tight, the fixtures would fill and 
overflow, perhaps creating considerable damage to 
the ceilings below, and at all events causing quite 
a nuisance to tenants on lower floors. For this rea- 
son, it is customary to require laundry trays fitted 
with overflow pipes, and in some cases the kitchen 
sinks are likewise required to be fitted with over- 
flows. 

Miscellaneous Apparatus for Apartment 

Houses.— Unless the water supply in the city where 
an apartment house is to be built is perfectly pure 
and wholesome, a sanitary filter should form part of 
the plumbing equipment to sterilize the water be- 
fore delivering it to the tenants. Meters will like- 
wise generally be required, and should be kept in 
mind by the designer, because either the owner will 
consider it cheaper to buy water by meter rates or 

154 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

the Water Board will insist on the building being 
metered, so that almost invariably a meter will be 
required. Sometimes water will not reach to the 
upper floor of an apartment house and a house 
tank must be provided. This in turn necessitates 
the installation of a pump for filling the tank, and 
the designer must keep in mind the various pumps 
at his choice, such as hot-air pumps, electric oper- 
ated pumps or steam pumps, the conditions govern- 
ing the case determining the choice. 

Yard and area drains must not be forgotten, 
nor leader pipes when they are permitted to dis- 
charge into the sewer. Likewise a trapped and 
water supplied sink is generally required in the 
basement to take the drip from the ice boxes. 




156 




SCHOOL BUILDINGS 




PLANNING THE PLUMBING FOR 
SCHOOL BUILDINGS 

ENERAL Considerations.— Of all 

classes of buildings in which plumbing 
fixtures are installed, in no class is the 
work so poorly planned, with such dis- 
regard for the fundamental principles 
of sanitation, as in the school buildings throughout 
the United States, outside of a few of the principal 
cities. Where will there be found a public build- 
ing — such as hospital, sanitarium, ofRce building, 
hotel or like structure — equipped with primitive 
outbuildings, the Smead system, latrines or range 
troughs? Yet many of the school buildings to-day 
are equipped with just such obsolete systems. That 
is not as it should be, and, no doubt, if the entire 
matter were left in the hands of the architect in 
charge, the standard of work would soon be raised. 
There is no good reason why the plumbing work 
in schools should not be of the very best type, re- 
flecting the latest in sanitary design. Children are 
sent to school to learn not only the lessons taught by 



157 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

text books, but, by mixing with other children and 
observing mechanical installations in buildings, they 
are supposed to unconsciously pick up much that 
otherwise would not be learned. They gain the first 
impression of sanitary devices from the plumbing 
equipment in the school building. That being true, 
and first impressions lasting, to create a right im- 
pression the installation should be the very best. 
If it is dirty, disgustingly filthy, and in a poorly 
lighted, ill- ventilated apartment, it creates a feel- 
ing of loathing whenever the child is forced to avail 
himself of its advantages, and dreading to touch 
the devices, he is not overscrupulous as to the man- 
ner of using them. On the other hand, if the toilet 
accommodations are clean and white, located in 
bright, cheerful rooms which are scrupulously clean 
and well ventilated, the most pronounced vandal 
among them would not feel inclined to deface any 
portion of the room or equipment. It follows, 
therefore, that for educational as well as for sani- 
tary reasons the very best plumbing should be 
placed in school buildings. 

PRIMARY AND INTERMEDIATE 
SCHOOLS 

Water-Gloset Accommodations. — In planning 
primary and intermediate school buildings, the prac- 
tice of grouping all toilet accommodations together 
in one place, which is usually located in the base- 
ment of the buildings, has become firmly rooted in 
school design. Within recent years, however, there 
is indication of a desire to break away from that 
set practice, and the more advanced architects, 

158 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

who make a study of school design, are placing 
separate toilet rooms on each floor of the building 
in the grammar schools, so that students from the 
several floors will have separate accommodations; 
while in the primary schools, for pupils under four- 
teen years of age, the toilet accommodations for 
each classroom are located in separate and indi- 
vidual toilet rooms adjoining the classrooms. In 
the latter case, urinals are dispensed with, the same 
as in the home, and, indeed, the toilet room resem- 
bles to a great extent the toilet accommodations in 
a private house, with which the children are sup- 
posed to be familiar. 

In the children's toilet rooms children's closets 
12 inches in height may very satisfactorily be used, 
while in the more advanced schools, of course, regu- 
lar standard-size closets will be installed. 

Number of Fixtures Required. — There are no 
standard rules in the United States for apportion- 
ing toilet fixtures in schools. So far as can be de- 
rived from plumbing equipments now in satisfac- 
tory operation, about one water closet and one and 
one-half urinal are provided for each fifty male stu- 
dents, or fraction thereof, and one and one-half 
water closet for each fifty girls in the school. In 
cases where separate water-closet compartments 
adjoining classrooms are provided, one water closet 
for twenty-five students, either male or female, 
will be found the greatest possible limit, and one to 
twenty would probably be more nearly right. 

In Great Britain a certain number of fixtures 
are required for schools of different sizes. These 

159 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

will be found listed in tabular form in Table I. In 
this table lineal feet of urinal trough have been 
converted into individual urinals. In the original 
table 8 feet of urinal trough is required for each 
hundred boys. 

The numbers given in the table v^ill be found 
perfectly safe and may be followed in any locality: 



TABLE I 

NUMBER OF TOILET FIXTURES FOR SCHOOLS 





Kind and Number of Fixtures 


Number of Children 


Water Closets 


Urinals 




Girls 


Boys 


Infants 


Boys 


Under 30 children 


2 
2 
4 
5 
6 
8 
12 


1 

2 
2 
3 
3 
4 
5 


2 
3 
3 
4 
5 
6 
8 


2 


" 50 '' 


3 


" 70 " 


4 


'* 100 " 


5 


'* 150 " 


7 


" 200 " 


10 


" 300 " 


15 







Ventilation of Toilet Rooms. — It goes without 
saying that any toilet room, whether in a school- 
house or other building, in which a number of 
water closets are grouped together, should be well 
ventilated. In case the water closets are of a 
siphon type, or of any other design which contains 
a large volume of water and but little soiling sur- 
face, ventilation of the room will be all that is 
necessary, the vent registers being located imme- 
diately back of the closets. If washout closets are 
used, on the other hand, and it might be added, 
emphatically, that they should not be, each closet 

160 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

should be separately vented through a local vent, 
having at least eight square inches of surface, con- 
nected to a shaft having a positive draft insured by 
mechanical means. If for any reason the toilet 
room is so located that the air is heavy and venti- 
lation consequently sluggish, or if it is approached 
by descending a few steps into the room, each 
closet, of w^hatever type, should be separately vent- 
ed v^ith a local vent. In many cases it is better to 
vent the closets than to vent the room through reg- 
isters located back of the closets; but as a rule, it 
is better to vent the closet compartments used by 
girls, than to vent the closets by means of local 
vents. 

Teachers' Room. — In addition to the general 
toilet accommodations for the students, each floor, 
or each classroom, should be provided with a retir- 
ing-room and toilet accommodations for the teach- 
ers. This is a provision too often overlooked in the 
design of school buildings, although it is as neces- 
sary as toilet accommodations for the children. 

Infirmary. — A provision which should be made 
in all school buildings — in fact, which should be re- 
quired wherever a large number of people congre- 
gate — is a room set aside as an infirmary and 
equipped with the fixtures necessary for emer- 
gency cases. For instance, there should be a lava- 
tory, a water closet, bath tub and possibly a hos- 
pital slop sink. While this provision has been neg- 
lected to a great extent in the past it is more than 
likely that the action of a few of the Eastern cities, 
notably Boston, in providing medical supervision 

161 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

of the schools,* will be followed throughout the 
United States when the benefits derived from the 
system become known. In Boston, at the present 
time, a nurse is in charge of the physical welfare 
of the children in each school, to assist in testing 
the sight, hearing and other senses of the pupils, 
with a view of correcting any infirmity which 
might prevent their applying themselves to their 
studies as they should. In addition the nurses are 
always on the lookout to detect premonitory symp- 
toms of contagious diseases like measles, mumps, 
whooping-cough and fevers. 

In order that the nurse will have the proper 
f aciHties and a suitable place to conduct her exami- 
nations in, an infirmary will be found indispens- 
able in schools which contemplate medical supervi- 
sion. Even where there is no medical supervision 
an infirmary containing the fixtures enumerated 
and a couch to lie on should be provided. 

Fainting fits and other weaknesses are not un- 
common where a number of children are gathered 
together, and a suitable place should be provided 
for the treatment of the patient in such cases. 

Shower Baths. — InstalHng shower baths in 
school buildings has become such a settled practice 
at the present time that but few school buildings 
can be found, particularly in the poorer quarters 
in some cities, which are not equipped with show- 
ers, and lockers for the holding of clothes while 
the children are having a bath. This practice is 

*Argentina, Belgium, Bulgaria, England, France, Japan, Sweden and 
Switzerland make national provision for the medical inspection of school 
children. In America and Germany it has not yet become universal, only 
certain of the cities having taken up the work. 

162 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

found so satisfactory that it will become more firm- 
ly rooted with time, until no architect would think 
of designing a public school without including 
shower baths. This becomes the more necessary 
now that gymnasiums and playgrounds where ath- 
letic sports are conducted are becoming part of 
every well-equipped school building. After a game 
of basketball, football or a half hour in the gym- 
nasium a shower bath is almost indispensable to 
the exercisers. 

Swimming- Pools. — The teaching of swimming 
is being considered seriously by school authorities 
throughout the country, as it has been for many 
years by educational authorities in Great Britain 
and Europe, where swimming-pools in school build- 
ings are by no means scarce. In this country, like- 
wise, swimming-pools have been provided in school 
buildings in some cities, where they are in the na- 
ture of an experiment, and no doubt the benefits 
derived will cause their spread to other localities. 
In inland cities, where natural bodies of water are 
lacking in which children could learn to swim, the 
providing of swimming-pools in the school build- 
ings should be seriously considered by the design- 
ing architect. Where natural water courses are 
available the provision is not so necessary, although 
it would seem as though the art of swimming should 
be taught in all schools. 

Kitchens in Schools.— In schools where cook- 
ing is taught a room fitted up as a kitchen, with 
sinks for drawing water and cleansing dishes, 
ranges for cooking food and heating water, tables 

163 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

and all the usual fixtures, will be required. But 
there is another reason why kitchens will be re- 
quired in schools of the future. 

At the present time it is safe to say that two 
per cent, of the children attending school are hun- 
gry. This not only causes mental inefficiency, for 
nobody can work or study to the best advantage 
while tortured by the gnawing of hunger, but it is 
furthermore one of the causes of crime. Why, 
then, should not public schools serve a wholesome 
noonday lunch to the pupils, even though the prac- 
tice would seem revolutionary and socialistic? In 
cities where cooking is part of the curriculum the 
municipal government does not hesitate to provide 
foodstuffs for the students to cook, and eat if they 
see fit; then why should the school authorities re- 
fuse to provide a like or even a greater amount for 
underfed school-children? 

The same good end would be attained in either 
case and the necessity would justify the expendi- 
ture. At all events, the architects in large cities 
will do well to keep in mind the possibiHty of kitch- 
ens being necessary in school buildings. Since the 
foregoing paragraphs were written London, Eng- 
land, has taken up the subject of feeding school- 
children, as may be seen by the footnote. * 



♦SCHOOL LUNCHES TAX ITEM 

London County Council, to Support Feeding of Needy Children 

London, January 2.— Steps are to be taken by the London county coun- 
cil to place the cost of feeding necessitous school-children on the rates. 

Urgent appeals were made by Lord Mayor Sir George Truscott, R. A. 
Robinson, chairman of the London county council, and other influential per- 
sons for subscriptions to the voluntary funds. The response has, however, 
been inadequate, and the funds now in hand, it is anticipated, will not be suf- 
ficient to feed the children until the county council resumes work again after 
the Christmas holidays. 

164 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

At the meeting of the London educational committee a sub-committee's 
report will be presented recommending that representations be made to the 
board of education that an order for the power to levy a rate should be issued. 
It is intended that the power to take the necessary funds— estimated at $50,» 
000— from the rates should be used only if there is a shortage of money during 
the recess. 

The education (provision of meals) act gives powers where voluntary 
contributions are insufficient to spend money from the rates for the provision 
of meals within the limit of a half -penny rate. 

Drinking- Fountains.— Drinking fountains of a 
sanitary type, which require no cups, should be lib- 
erally provided for school-children. The ordinary 
drinking-fountain, with one cup for the use of all 
children, is unsanitary in the extreme and goes a 
great way toward making epidemic cases of diph- 
theria, mumps and whooping-cough, not to men- 
tion the possibility of communicating the bacilli of 
tuberculosis from lip to lip. In a school building 
children coming from all parts of the school dis- 
trict mingle together for a few hours, then sepa- 
rate, and if one child is affected with a communi- 
cable disease, great danger exists of its spreading 
to others, thence to the whole district. 

As water is a well-known channel of infection, 
and drinking-cups a convenient mode of infecting 
the water or communicating a disease by direct 
contact, the use of drinking-cups, or fountains 
which require the use of them, should give way to 
the sanitary drinking-fountain. 

Advanced Schools and Colleges. — In the ad- 
vanced schools and colleges many of the require- 
ments for primary schools may be dispensed with. 
For instance, swimming-pools and showers will not 
be necessary unless forming part of the gymnasium 
outfit. Further, kitchens may well be dispensed 
with, and the toilet accommodations can be grouped 

165 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

together in toilet rooms, forming tiers on the sev- 
eral floors. Outside of these exceptions what has 
already been said about primary schools will apply 
almost equally to advanced schools. 

Fire lines will be found desirable in all school 
buildings of whatever grade, and in college build- 
ings special plumbing fixtures are required in the 
various departments, such as in the chemical labo- 
ratory. Some of these fixtures will have to be 
lined with lead, with the seams burned instead of 
soldered. When designing plumbing for such pur- 
poses, however, the best way is to consult with the 
professors of the different departments and learn 
their various requirements. 

EXAMPLES OF PLUMBING IN 
SGHOOLHOUSES 

In Fig. 89 is shown the floor plan of a school 
building fitted with separate girls' and boys* rooms 
communicating with each classroom. In addition 
to the children's toilet rooms one is provided for 
the teachers also, which is accessible from the 
main hall. It will be observed that to reach the 
toilet rooms the pupils have to pass through a ward- 
robe. By this arrangement any embarrassment 
due to self consciousness is relieved, and at the 
same time, owing to the two doors which sound 
will have to pass through, it is pretty well dead- 
ened. It might seem unnecessary to point out that 
in planning work on this order noiseless combina- 
tions should be specified so that the original noise 
will be reduced to the minimum. 

166 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



A TbOOK ^TORAQE 
t> t>0Y»5 TOaiT 
C « UaROKQS)^ 
aiRL5 TOILET 



jr050ELYN 5. TAYLOR CO ARCHJS 
CEP/Af^ R.APIP3 lA 



C ^ WAROR05E 
F TC/\CHE:Ri TOfLf T 
V VCT>Tie)[/LE 
^ LIGHTS 




FIRJT FLOOR. PLAN "^ APAM3 SCHOOL 
CEPAR RAPIP5 lA- 
3H0W/MQ ALTtRAT/ON^ IM CL05CT^ /^rtP WARP^^OBtS 
TO riT BVILPIHQ FOR. TOILET 5Y3TEM ATTACHE? TO EACH JCHOOL T^OOrt 



167 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

There are no urinals used in this system of 
school plumbing, but the boys' closets are fitted 
with self-raising seats which remain up when not 
in use. In the lower grades low closets, 12 inches 
high, may be used. 

Ventilation is necessary in installments of this 
kind, and in the present case is obtained by means 
of local vents connected to the shafts against 
which the closets are backed. These shafts are 
heated with steam coils to insure a positive draft. 

Owing to the fact that this building was an al- 
teration the water closets could not be placed in 
rooms having windows opening to the outer air. 
This objection has been overcome, however, in the 
typical floor plan illustrated in Fig. 90, which shows 
the arrangement favored by the schoolboard of 
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where the method was first 
tried out. The schools in which this system is 
used are all grammar or grade schools, taking 
pupils up to fourteen years of age, and the system 
for such schools can be pronounced a success. It 
is conducive to better morals, discipline and sani- 
tation, and the pupils can be trained in the proper 
use of plumbing fixtures if they do not get that 
training at home. It cuts out a source of moral 
contamination that exists in the congregate-closet 
system, where a score or more children can meet 
at any time to learn all sorts of evil as well as do 
damage and commit nuisance with little fear of de- 
tection. 

On the whole, the sanitary arrangements for 
young school children should be as clean, bright, 
attractive and perfect as they and the surround- 

168 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




169 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

ings can be be made. There is no logic or sense in 
the old argument that children will destroy good 
fixtures. It is only the dirty, filthy and ugly that 
children destroy; they kill snakes, lizards, toads, 
other reptiles, but never destroy pretty flowers, 
delicate china ware or pretty pictures. But even 
though there was a latent vandalism in childhood 
to guard against, why not provide elevating in- 
stead of degrading fixtures and rooms, then put in 
a matron in the girls' toilet and monitor in the 
boys' to see that no damage is done? Hotels, 
steam-ships, railroad stations and large department 
stores find it necessary to place the toilet rooms for 
grown-up people in charge of overseers, why should 
more care and intelligence be expected of children? 
The logical thing to do is to provide the very best 
which will tend to elevate the children, then put 
somebody in charge so they can do no harm. 




170 




Y. M. G. A. BUILDINGS 




PLANNING THE PLUMBING IN 
Y. M. C. A. BUILDINGS 

S Young Men's Christian Association 
buildings grew in number they in- 
creased in importance, so that at the 
present time they occupy a distinct 
place in architecture, which entitles 
them to be considered in a class by themselves. 
This is due partly to the fact that they combine 
under one roof some of the distinctive features of 
several classes of buildings. For instance, ath- 
letics being one of the features of the association, 
these buildings have gymnasiums, swimming-pools, 
showers and all the accessories which belong to an 
athletic club. 

The social side of the members is encouraged 
by means of bowling-alleys, reading-rooms, club 
rooms and association halls. The educational 
function of the association is made easy by the pro- 
vision for class rooms, school rooms and assembly 
rooms, while the hotel feature is to be found in 
rooms for lodgers, which are rented, without meals, 

171 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

to men. The serving of meals has never been a 
feature of Young Men's Christian Association work 
so far, although there seems a tendency in that di- 
rection in some quarters at the present time; con- 
sequently something in the way of a restaurant or 
dining-room and kitchen must be provided for in 
the buildings where meals are to be served, and 
a kitchen where meals can be prepared for ban- 
quets should be provided in all buildings of this 
class. 

Turkish baths usually form part of the gen- 
eral bathing facilities in such buildings and will be 
found incorporated in most of the plans. 

It is but reasonable to suppose that a building 
which combines so many different features must 
contain a great deal of plumbing work, and such is 
the case. In the basement, where the swimming- 
pool is generally located, will be found a number 
of shower baths, so that the bathers can cleanse 
their persons before plunging into the pool of 
water. Close by the showers will usually be found 
the Turkish bath rooms, with their various combi- 
nations of dry-heat and vapor-heat compartments, 
electric baths, light baths, and all the various other 
apphances which belong to the department of 
bathing. 

A general toilet room will usually be found on 
this floor, as well as separate toilets and lavatories 
of a less general nature, an engineers' or janitors' 
toilet room, and a boiler room in which is located 
the heating apparatus for supplying hot water not 
only to the building proper but also to the swim- 
ming pool. 

172 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



••SVILDING rOR^'THE.VGfVMG- MEKx/* OHRItyTIATi A/^OC lATTI 011' 




•PJ-AN • FOR • BASEMENT- 
•jyo^iuE V-iifT • !■■■■ ■ ■■ N — M ■ »4 

Fig-. 91 



173 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

Usually the first story of the building contains 
the least plumbing of any of the floors. This is be- 
cause the first story is generally occupied by the 
main lobby, office, gymnasium and a few depart- 
ment headquarters, which do away with the neces- 
sity for any great number of plumbing fixtures. A 
drinking fountain of sanitary type will be found 
desirable for this floor, as it likewise will for each 
floor of the building, and fire lines should not be 
overlooked when preparing the plumbing plan and 
writing the specifications. 

The second story of the building generally con- 
tains an assembly room, which may be used for 
lectures, exhibits, class recitations and various 
other purposes. In order that concert and like en- 
tertainments may be given, a couple of dressing 
rooms, each containing a lavatory, will not be 
amiss. A kitchen on this floor, communicating 
with the assembly room, will be found convenient 
in case of banquets or other celebrations in the 
building. 

Above the second floor, unless some of this 
space is required for association work, the building 
is partitioned off into sleeping rooms, to be rented 
to lodgers, the same as rooms in a hotel. This 
necessitates providing washing, bathing and toilet 
facilities on such floors of the building as are given 
over to this purpose. Usually the washing accom- 
modations are grouped together in one room, where 
all the lodgers repair for a wash. When there is 
sufficient money available, however, to pay for the 
extra work, separate lavatories in each room will 
be found more desirable, and the increased price 

174 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



•• JACK-VO/iviL.UE. ; ri* OR.IDA.— «; cT: K-L>trTi-lO.-/S.R.CH 1 TE.CT - - 




•I.AUI^-i^. -t-^TR-E-fi-T- 



•PLAN » FOU ' rm/T ' FLOOR ♦ 

j^C AX.& ^" - 1 FT t ' ' ' I ' " 

Fig. 92 



175 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

which can be charged for rooms with running water 
will soon repay the original outlay. The bathing 
facilities on the various floors of Young Men's 
Christian Association buildings usually consist of 
shower baths. However, where female help is em- 
ployed to keep the building clean, the maids' toilet 
should be as fully equipped as the bath room in a 
private house, and should contain an ordinary bath 
tub instead of a shower bath. It is well, likewise, 
to provide at least one bath tub on each floor of the 
building, for the benefit of those who would prefer 
a tubbing to a shower. 

It goes without saying that all water used in a 
building of this character should be filtered and that 
the supply pipes should be well proportioned, so 
that a copious flow of water can be had at all times 
at all fixtures without the annoyance of one faucet 
robbing another. 

The plans for a Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation building may be seen in the five accompany- 
ing illustrations. In Fig. 91 is shown the basement 
floor, which contains the Turkish baths, swimming 
pool, general toilet room and a battery of showers, 
besides some scattered toilet rooms. This floor 
may be considered as having most of the plumbing 
features belonging to an athletic club. 

The flrst floor plan is shown in Fig. 92. This 
floor contains, besides the general lobby, general 
office and gymnasium, a special exercise room, ex- 
amination room and physical director's oflfice, and a 
few scattered toilet rooms. 

The layout of the second floor is shown in Fig. 
93, a toilet room off the visitors' gallery, another 

176 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



■•BVILDIMG-rOR,-TIIE -YOVNG •WEIi^-CHRJLrTlAl-I-.Ax,^2/fc)CIAT10H" 




•» PLAN * FOR V 5E.GOND -^ FLOGF- v 
Fig. 93 



177 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

opening off from the ladies' parlor and a kitchen 
sink being all the plumbing installed on this floor. 

In Fig. 94 is shown a plan of the third floor. 
The only fixtures on this floor are the sink in the 
dark room and a general toilet room for the use of 
the occupants of this floor. 

The fourth, fifth and sixth floors are shown in 
Fig. 95. These floors are designed for use as 
dormitories and contain no fixtures outside of the 
maids' toilet, the general toilet room and a private 
toilet room communicating with rooms 417 and 418. 
As was previously remarked, lavatories in the vari- 
ous sleeping rooms on these floors would add greatly 
to the convenience and comfort of the inmates, and 
at a cost but slightly greater than that of portable 
basins and stands. On the other hand, while the 
original outlay would be more, the increased reve- 
nue from rooms provided with running water would 
soon balance the account, leaving a net income 
from the investment. A good feature of the plan 
under consideration is the providing of private 
toilet rooms in connection with bedrooms. As in 
hotel buildings, it would be well in Y. M. C. A. 
buildings to provide a certain percentage of the 
sleeping rooms with private baths. 

It would seem that in large Y. M. C. A. build- 
ings, where several floors are given up to rooms 
for lodging, that the bed hnen, towels and other 
articles requiring washing would warrant the es- 
tablishing of a laundry as part of the plumbing or 
mechanical installation. This would seem the 
logical thing to do, in view of the fact that the 
necessary power is available and everything con- 

178 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



-SVILr>IMGr-rOK-THZ:-YGV7^ G -i^EJi//-CHR_L/'TIz^7^ V^UTGC lATI O/i •• 




*:TJuAl\ ' FOR,- TJilRJ? - TT-O GiC^ * 

Fig. 94 



179 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

venient for operating the laundry. A further con- 
sideration would be the fact that besides the money 
saved on the household linen the personal washing 
of the roomers would help swell the revenue from 
this branch or department. 

In Y. M. C. A. buildings where manual train- 
ing is to be taught special provision will have to 
be made in fitting up the shop rooms, the plumb- 
ing work required depending a great deal on the 
extent to which the association wishes to carry on 
the work of training. If trades are to be taught, 
and plumbing is to be one of the trades, it would 
be well to have testing troughs connected with the 
soil pipe and supplied with running water so that 
the various apparatus used in plumbing can be 
tested and tried. Further, it would be well to have 
outlets to which work of the students could be con- 
nected, when finished, so they would see how the 
work held up under pressure. 

In like manner, in the chemical laboratory 
special provision will have to be made for students 
of chemistry, running water, waste connections and 
gas outlets being required at the laboratory tables. 
Lead lined sinks are sometimes required for this 
purpose, when acids are to be used that would at- 
tack and destroy other materials, and when lead 
sinks are used, it is better to have the corners 
burned than soldered, as acids often destroy solder 
when they do not injure lead. The best thing to 
to do when trades are to be taught in Y. M. C. A. 
buildings, is to consult with the instructors who 
will have charge of the various departments as to 
their several requirements, and then make pro- 

180 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 






BED■RO0^ ibEDRODM 



42,6 

c}-0"x)3'-6" 



4£5 
<^'-^ X J3-6' 



BEDRQDM 



3ZD RODt] 
423 



LB 






a 



SEDEODrt 



BED-KjCBYII 
420 



|lj^^ i 



BEDRQD/l 






CL^ O K_^ K_-^ i JZ? O K — 




^ 



BEDR.<5iM. 
>H7 



I 



OO R_ K_l DO R^ 



1 



©EDROO/\ 
'40S 
I3-6'x I8-0" 



SI IS 



E)BE>-R.OQM. 
406 
li'-fe'x l6'-o' 



BED-R^O/' BEDROOM 



■401 

ir-6'xi6-o' 



40S 
io'-oUi5-o' 







JCI-O, 



BED K,GQM 

■4 JO 

iA'-e>\ i&'-cr 



m 



4J6 

lo'o'x. ia-o' 



q^3';t i6'-o" 



a_ 






id-oV is'-o' 



E)EIDK_00/A 
412 
ti'-o"^ i&'-o'' 




BED -K-OQ/A 
4iJ 

J3-0"x. JS>-o" 



PJL.A.M -r O R. - r O V R-TH T TL G G R. 

Fig. 95 



181 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

vision accordingly. One requirement, however, 
v^hich may well be borne in mind, is lockers and 
wash room for the workers. When the students 
finish work at the lathe, moulding sand, wiping 
solder, or sheet metal bench, they will want to 
wash, and change their work clothes for street at- 
tire, and this cannot be conveniently done without 
lockers for their use and lavatories with hot water 
convenient for the purpose. 

A dark room for photographic purposes will be 
found a desirable feature of a Y. M. C. A. building 
for amateur work, even though photography is not 
one of the studies taught in the courses, and the 
dark room should be fully equipped with sinks sup- 
plied with running water. 




182 




COURTHOUSES 



PLANNING PLUMBING FOR 
COURT HOUSES 




N CONSIDERING the plumbing for 
court houses, a type of building is se- 
lected similar to the thousands which 
will be required in the numerous coun- 
ties of the various States which have 
their county seats in cities of moderate size. 

Buildings of this kind are used, not only for 
court proceedings, but likewise, in many cases, as 
places of public assemblage, where political 
speeches, concerts, lectures and other entertain- 
ments are held. To accommodate such meetings, 
a large assembly room, with a raised platform to 
serve as a stage, is generally provided, and a couple 
of retiring rooms, one on each side of the platform, 
which may be used as dressing rooms, will be found 
desirable. In each of these retiring rooms a lava- 
tory should be installed for the benefit of those 
taking part in entertainments and requiring the 
use of a dressing room. 

183 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

On court days, as well as on other occasions, 
a great many people resort to the court house and 
a general toilet room should be provided for their 
use. In addition to the general toilet room, semi- 
private toilet accommodations should be provided 
on each floor of the building for the use of clerks 
and other employees, w^hile the judges' rooms and 
jury rooms should each have a private toilet com- 
partment communicating v^ith it for the exclusive 
use of the occupants of that room. 

Throughout the building, on the various floors, 
will be located the various offices of the county of- 
ficials, and these parts of the building partake of 
the nature of an office building to such an extent 
that a lavatory should be provided in each single 
office room or suite of rooms. 

No building of this character would be com- 
plete without drinking fountains being provided on 
the several floors, and the drinking fountains 
should be supplied only with sterile drinking water 
which has been well filtered on the premises, un- 
less the public water supply has already been fil- 
tered and is otherwise wholesome. The drinking 
water may likewise be cooled by passing through a 
coil located in an ice box. 

Fire lines should be liberally provided in all 
kinds of public buildings where people assemble in 
large numbers, and numerous lengths of hose 
should be disposed at convenient points so as to be 
readily accessible in case of fire. In order that 
there will be an adequate and uninterrupted supply 
of water in case of fire, the water-supply should be 

184 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



Jl 



n 



;,j.S. '%3 "^ 










^ t- 


« 


LJ ,: 


« 


o if 


* •'^ 






CO • 


,0 rfS 


f 


'^ g 







11 



oq 



[f 



185 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

well proportioned and a large main extended into 
the building from the street. 

Slop sinks will be found indispensable in a court 
house, and one should be provided on each floor of 
the building. They may well be located in a closet 
set aside for the janitor. 

In some court houses, such, for instance, as are 
quite a distance from the police station or jail, it 
might be found advisable to construct a cell or room 
for the safe keeping of prisoners when not attend- 
ing court. When such is the case the cell should 
be provided with a water closet and lavatory for 
the accommodation of the prisoners. 

Hot-water supply will be found desirable in a 
court house, the same as in other kinds of office 
buildings, so a heater and tank should be provided 
for this purpose. 

The plumbing layout for the basement floor of 
a court house is shown in Fig. 96. In this installa- 
tion the rain water could not be discharged into the 
sewers, so it is conducted through separate rain- 
water systems to the curb, where it discharges into 
the street gutter. 

On this floor is located an assembly room, with 
two retiring or dressing rooms, in each of which is 
a lavatory. Besides these lavatories there are in 
different parts of the basement two general toilet 
rooms — one for men and the other for women — a 
drinking fountain, a slop sink, fire lines, hot, cold 
and circulation pipes, water heater, hot- water tank, 
filters and water cooler. 

A plan of the first floor of the building is shown 
in Fig. 97. This floor contains besides the two toilet 

186 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




187 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

rooms, one for men and one for women, a janitor's 
closet containing a slop sink, a drinking fountain, 
lavatories scattered throughout the various offices 
and stand pipes or fire lines with hose reels and 
hose. 

It might be well to point out that the plans for 
a court house shown in this work are not the archi- 
tectural plans of the building, but only the plumb- 
ing plans to be used in connection with the archi- 
tectural plans, from which the outlines of the 
plumbing plans were traced. The original plans 
are much fuller and more complete in detail as well 
as in measurements, all of which were omitted from 
the plumbing plan as having no bearing on the 
matter. 

In Fig. 98 is shown a plan of the second floor 
of the building; it will be observed that the judges' 
rooms, adjoining the court rooms, are each pro- 
vided with a private toilet room, and each lavatory 
is supplied not only with hot and cold water but 
likewise with cooled drinking water. Outside of 
the judges' toilet rooms there are no plumbing fix- 
tures on this floor except the drinking fountain and 
two general toilet rooms. It will be observed, how- 
ever, that in the women's toilet compartment there 
is a closet compartment containing the slop sink 
for this floor, there being no other convenient place 
to locate it. The fire lines extend to this floor and 
are provided with hose reels and hose, and outlets 
have been left in the various office rooms through 
which stacks pass for the future connection of lava- 
tories. 

188 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



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189 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

The third floor of the building is a duplicate of 
the second floor, so far as the plumbing work is con- 
cerned, for which reason it is omitted from this work. 

This completes, so far as the architectural re- 
quirements in the way of plumbing are concerned, 
the floor plans for a court-house building. A plumb- 
ing plan would not be complete, however, without 
details of the various parts and groups of fixtures. 
Space will not permit showing them all, but one 
sheet of details, which will indicate the require- 
ments along this line, is illustrated in Fig. 99. 

This sheet of details, at the extreme left, shows 
the way the main toilet room stack is to be run. 
It will be well to compare this detail with the one 
shown in Fig. 69, which shows the detail of a soil 
and vent stack in a hotel building. In the detail 
Fig. 69, it will be noticed that nothing but the bare 
stacks are shown. That was because on account of 
there being two bath rooms, one on each side of 
the stacks, it was found much simpler and clearer 
to show the stacks only in one detail, and the plan 
and elevation of the roughing-in for the bath rooms 
in two separate details, Figs. 70 and 71. In the 
present example, on the other hand, the work was 
of such a nature that one detail served for both 
the vertical stacks and horizontal branches, and 
shows them in their proper relation to each other. 
When this method can be followed it is the better 
one to adopt, but the entire layout cannot always 
be shown in one detail. When such is the case, the 
designer should make as many drawings as are 
necessary to show fully how the work is to be done, 
for that really is the object of plans and details. 

190 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



Dda// of Ooil ^faok'ancf 3i^at;c/ie5 
/or Womens Tbi/ef frboms 



y. J.Cosqrare, Soa/firy Shqh, 
n,/a.M). 



Lavofon Ouffef 
-sC/oSefOuf/ef. 



Latrrfory Outlet 




,/>^y Pipes in Womtm 



TeiUi ^orr. 



Fig. 99 

Plumbing Details for Courthouse 



191 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

In the present example, all the work could not be 
shown on the one detail, for there were fixtures to 
to be provided for outside of those shown in the 
groups. In order to show how the pipe for those 
other fixtures was to run, it was necessary to make 
the three additional details shown in the center of 
the sheet. The plan view shows the run of pipe 
to the closets, the slop sink and lavatories, and the 
outlet in the stacks for the drinking fountains in 
the corridors. The second detail shows the eleva- 
tion of waste and vent pipes for the slop sink and 
lavatories on the second and third floors, while the 
bottom detail shows how the waste and vent pipes 
are to be run to the lavatories on the first floor. 
As these details are all drawn to scale, the estimator 
can take his quantities direct from them, while 
the plumber when installing the work will save a 
great deal of time by not having to study out how 
the pipes are to be run and where located. Doubt 
and uncertainty take up as much of the plumbers' 
time on complicated work as does the actual time 
of installing the pipe; for, it must be remembered, 
it is the function of the workman to do work as 
planned, not to plan the work, and when the de- 
signer has failed the plumber must not be blamed 
for requiring time. 

Another feature of the details that may well 
be observed, is the sizes of pipes, both water and 
drainage, where they are shown. That is the real 
object of plumbing plans. To show fully and com- 
pletely by numerous drawings just how the various 
pipes are to be run, and to show likewise the exact 
size of each piece of pipe. 

192 




PLANNING THE PLUMBING 
FOR HOTEL BUILDINGS 




N PLANNING the plumbing for a large 
hotel, certain conditions must be con- 
sidered, many of which are common to 
all types of semi-pubhc buildings in 
which many people are housed and fed 
under one management. 

In buildings where many people are fed, ample 
provision must be made for cooking the meals, and 
this necessitates large and numerous sinks, supplied 
with hot and cold water, located in the kitchen, 
bakery and scullery rooms. In the bakery, in ad- 
dition to hot and cold water, ice water must be pro- 
vided for use in mixing pastry, and in the scullery 
room separate sinks should be provided for the 
preparation of vegetables, and at which the table 
dishes and cooking-utensils are to be washed. 

Large quantities of grease, accumulated in the 
preparation of foods and washing of dishes, are 
emptied into hotel sinks, and to prevent the grease 
from obstructing the house drains provision should 
be made to intercept it before it reaches the drains. 

193 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

A large number of employees, both male and 
female, are required in the preparation and serving 
of meals, washing of dishes and laundering of 
linen, and toilet accommodations must be provided 
for their use. Further, floor drains should be pro- 
vided in all of the v^orkrooms and in the connect- 
ing corridors, to facilitate the cleaning of floors, 
unavoidably soiled by so large a force of help. 

Butler pantry sinks should be provided in 
serving- rooms adjoining dining-rooms, and a bar 
and back bar in the cafe, fitted up complete v^ith 
hot and cold water, ice water and waste connec- 
tions. 

As the guests of a hotel are to be lodged as well 
as fed, facilities must be provided for washing and 
bathing of the guests. The number and quality of 
the bath rooms usually depend upon the class of the 
hotel. In the best class of hostelries a separate 
bath room containing lavatory, water closet, bath 
tub or shower, and sometimes bath tub and shower, 
is provided in connection with each room or suite 
of rooms, while in the cheaper hotels bath rooms 
are provided only in connection with certain of the 
more expensive suites and the toilet accommoda- 
tions on each floor are for the common use of all the 
guests. In rooms which are not connected with 
bath rooms, lavatories with hot and cold water are 
provided in all the better class of hotels. 

To care for the comfort of the guests and keep 
the rooms and corridors clean, a number of ser- 
vants are necessary, and bathing and toilet facili- 
ties must be provided for them on the dormitory 
floor of the building. Also, slop sinks should be 

194 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




FIRST FLOOR PL\N HOTEL LE RAY WATERTOWN,N.Y. ^Z?y%g^^^2' 

Fig. 100 
First Floor Plan of Hotel 



195 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

provided on each floor of the hotel to facihtate the 
work of cleaning the rooms on the several floors. 

A laundry is indispensable in a first-class hotel, 
and besides the usual machine washers, a battery 
of stationary tubs should be fitted up in every com- 
plete laundry. 

There are certain provisions of a semi-public 
nature that must be made in a hotel, which are un- 
necessary in most other types of buildings. A large 
toilet room for the accommodation of guests and 
patrons of the hotel is a necessity, and a barber 
shop is almost indispensable. Hotel barber shops 
are sometimes fitted up with bath rooms, while in 
more pretentious hostelries Turkish and Russian 
bath parlors are provided. 

Drinking-fountains should be fitted up in the 
lobby of the hotels, and all water used throughout 
the entire establishment should be sterilized by fil- 
tration. 

In tall hotel buildings, in which it is necessary 
to supply the building with water from a house 
tank, two pumps should be provided, so in case one 
pump breaks down the other can be used to fill the 
tank while the broken one is being repaired. 

In extremely tall buildings, twenty or more 
stories in height, a house tank should be provided 
for each ten stories, so as to avoid the excessive 
pressure on the lower floors that would result from 
the use of but one house tank located on the roof 
of the building. Instead of providing tanks at dif- 
ferent elevations, pressure-reducing valves can be 
used in their stead. It must be born in mind, how- 
ever, that a pressure-reducing valve only relieves 

196 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




SECOND FLOOR PLAN HOTEL LE RAY WATERTOWN,N.Y. ^Z?/^/!^.^/^?? 

Fig-. 101 
Second Floor Plan of Hotel 



197 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

the system of pressure when all the faucets on the 
low-pressure side are closed; when a faucet is 
opened the water will flow with a pressure due to 
the head or water measuring from the tank. If 
the building is very high and pressure-reducing 
valves are used there will be more splashing when 
water is being drawn than when tanks at different 
elevations are provided. 

A further condition to be considered is capacity 
for storage for at least one day's supply of water. 
This provision is to guard against a water famine 
caused by shutting off the water from the street 
mains for repairs or for other causes. 

When storage of the entire daily supply of 
water on the roof would cause a greater weight 
than should be permitted, or would require more 
roof space than is available, part of the water can 
be stored in suction tanks located in the basement 
or cellar. 

A feature which is generally overlooked in 
planning the water supply for hotel buildings is 
the advisability of providing a supply of ice-cold 
drinking water to every guest room. In view of 
the fact that hotels are always provided with a 
mechanical refrigeration system the providing of a 
supply of ice-cold water becomes very simple and 
economical, and a continuous circulation can be 
maintained throughout the ice- water system by 
means of a small rotary pump. The water should 
first be filtered, then cooled, after which it may be 
circulated through the distributing mains to the 
various ice-water faucets, then back again to the 
cooling coils. 

198 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




SM^&S™ FLOOR PLAN HOTEL LE RAY WATERTOWN,N.Y. D.D.fiieJ^, MA'i 



Fig. 102 
Upper Flocr Plan of Hotel 



199 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

In proportioning the hot water and cold water 
supply for the building, the size of pipes should be 
carefully calculated, to guard against the annoy- 
ance experienced in many first-class hotels of the 
faucets on the lower floors of the building robbing 
those on the higher floors. 

Another consideration which should be kept in 
mind in Hmestone regions is the fact that hard 
water is very objectionable for washing and bath- 
ing, and that the entire water supply for a build- 
ing can be softened, at no cost to the management 
when the saving of fuel effected by the use of soft 
water is considered and to that is added the saving 
of soap, labor and scouring preparations. The 
softening of water in a large establishment will be 
found to more than pay for the process, besides giv- 
ing the guests the additional comfort and con- 
venience of an improved water. Not only hotels 
but hospitals, sanitariums, asylums and like insti- 
tutions can have the water supply softened with 
profit to the management and pleasure to the in- 
mates. 

Fire lines will be found desirable in hotel build- 
ings, whether fireproof or combustible, and should 
be part of every well-equipped hotel water-supply 
system. In country, seashore or other suburban 
hotels, in addition to the fire lines within the build- 
ing, there should be fire hydrants on the grounds 
outside, so that flames can be fought from without 
when the interior is inaccessible. In seashore re- 
sorts the question of salt-water baths is one that 
will have to be considered, and at other country 
and summer or winter hotels, water supply and 

200 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



•FIRE. &SCAPC 




£ STREET 

A. Goenner, Architect 



HOTEL DRI>SGOLL capitol cround^ 



Fig. 103 
Novel Floor Plan of Hotel Building 

201 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

sewage purification will be among the plumbing 
features which will require consideration. 

An objectionable practice commonly followed 
in hotel design, but which should be changed for a 
more satisfactory method, is the installing of self- 
closing basin cocks at the lavatories. Very few 
patrons of a hotel care to wash in a basin which 
has been used by thousands before them, particu- 
larly when their preference under all conditions is 
to wash in running water; but, even in the very 
best hotels, they are confronted with a type of 
basin cock which makes any alternative but to wash 
in the basin almost impossible. 

Another point which should be considered is 
the placing of combination cocks at lavatories. 
Usually the hot water in hotels is so extremely hot 
that it cannot be used without tempering it with 
cold water, and this cannot be done when washing 
at an open faucet unless a combination cock is 
used. 

EXAMPLE OF A HOTEL 
BUILDING 

The first floor plan of a small hotel building is 
shown jn Fig. 100. It will be noted that two stores 
are included in the first floor plan and are part of 
the building, so that they will have to be considered 
when laying out the plumbing work. Every store 
building should have a toilet room containing a 
water closet and lavatory and, outside of the toilet 
room, a sink will be found convenient. 

202 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

The public or general toilet room for the hotel 
is located in the basement of the building and is 
not shown in the illustrations here reproduced. A 
small toilet room is likewise provided on the first 
floor, adjoining and accessible from the barroom. 
The barroom is fitted up complete with all neces- 
sary waste and supply connections, and a drinking- 
fountain may well be located in the lobby. In 
hotels where ice-water is supplied through pipes to 
the drinking -fountain and the various rooms a 
branch may be run likewise to the bar. 

In Fig. 101 is shown the second floor of the 
building. On this floor are located the kitchen, 
serving room, pantry and main dining room, which 
necessitates the installation of considerable plumb- 
ing work. In addition to the usual kitchen, pantry 
and serving-room fixtures there is a toilet room for 
servants on this floor, accessible only from a pass- 
ageway. 

Each sleeping room on the second floor has a 
stationary lavatory supplied with hot and cold 
water. In addition each room, with the exception 
of one, adjoins a bath room, so that the rooms can 
be let either with or without bath. Besides the 
liberal provision made for washing and bathing on 
this floor there is a general bath room, accessible 
from the hall, for the beneflt of the guests who 
have no private bath rooms. 

On account of lavatories having been provided 
in all the sleeping rooms they have been omitted 
from the bath rooms, which contain only a water 
closet and a bath tub. Notwithstanding that fact, 

203 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

this floor of the building is well supplied with 
plumbing fixtures. 

The third, fourth and fifth floors of the build- 
ing, shown in Fig. 102, are given over entirely to 
sleeping rooms. Here, as on the floor below, sta- 
tionary lavatories with hot and cold water are pro- 
vided in each of the sleeping rooms, and, in addi-. 
tion, one-half the sleeping rooms are adjoining 
bath rooms, with which they may be let. In the 
same location as on the second floor a general bath 
room is provided on each of the three upper floors 
for the convenience of the guests having no bath 
rooms. 

The floor plan of a small hotel building, which 
provides in a very unique and satisfactory way for 
the toilet accommodations of the guests, is shown 
in Fig. 103. In this building there is a separate 
bath room for each three rooms, which may be let 
en suite, or separately, the bath room communi- 
cating directly with a private hall and being equally 
accessible from all rooms. Such an arrangement 
would prove eminently satisfactory for the numer- 
ous hotels in the various smaller cities throughout 
the country, a semi-private bath room being much 
more inviting than a public one. Of course, in a 
case of this kind, it would be advisable to have 
separate lavatories in each of the sleeping rooms, 
the same as in other hotel and club buildings. 



204 




CHAPTER XVI 




CLUB BUILDINGS 




PLANNING THE PLUMBING FOR 
CLUB BUILDINGS 

OUNTRY CLUBS —Club buildings 
are peculiar unto themselves, inasmuch 
as they may partake of the features or 
functions of several different classes of 
buildings, each case depending entirely 
on what interest in common brought the members 
together and made possible the building of a club. 
For instance, there are country clubs, city clubs, 
athletic clubs; and the plumbing installations in 
these three classes of buildings will differ from one 
another, at the same time having some features in 
common. 

Country clubs are usually intended as places to 
spend the day, but seldom are they designed with 
the view of accommodating members over night. 
On this account there are no sleeping rooms or bath 
rooms outside of those required for the accommo- 
dation of the employees of the club. Meals are al- 
ways served at country-club buildings, so that a 
fully equipped kitchen and a well-appointed laun- 

205 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

dry are necessary for the proper fulfilment of this 
function. Toilet accommodations must be provided 
for the members, and as women are usually wel- 
come when accompanied by male escorts, separate 
toilet accommodations must be provided for the 
women guests of the club. Golf, tennis, bowling 
and other games are usually features of outdoor 
life, and in order to remove the grime and per- 
spiration resulting from such pursuits refreshing 
shower baths should be provided. For the accom- 
modation of the women guests, separate showers 
should likewise be provided, as well as a bath tub 
for those who object to the shower or would pre- 
fer a tubbing. 

In cases where country clubs are built remote 
from a city, and accommodations are provided for 
lodging the members, bathing facilities ought to be 
provided in connection with each room, the same 
as in first-class hotel buildings. 

Country clubs are generally situated remote 
from public sewers and water supplies, so that 
means must be provided to secure a plentiful and 
wholesome supply of water and dispose of the re- 
sulting sewage. 

City Clubs. — City clubs — that is, the various 
social clubs established in cities — partake very 
closely of the nature of hotel buildings, in which 
members of the club, only, are extended the privi- 
leges of the house. Indeed, a fully equipped city 
club could easily be converted into a hotel by 
changing some of the private dining rooms into 
sleeping apartments. 

206 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

A well-appointed club building has toilet rooms 
on the various public floors, the same as in hotel 
buildings. It must have a fully equipped kitchen, 
a well-equipped laundry, toilet accommodations for 
the servants, barber shop, and bath rooms adjoining 
the sleeping rooms on dormitory floors. Here the 
necessity for bath rooms in connection with sleep- 
ing rooms is almost imperative. Members who can 
afford to live at a first-class club can well afford 
the extra cost of a bath room, and as the club is 
the member's home his own private apartment ab- 
solutely needs a toilet room. 

In addition to the other sanitary features of a 
club building a Turkish bath will always prove de- 
sirable to the members, besides being a source of 
revenue to the management. 

EXAMPLE OF A CLUB 
BUILDING 

The first-floor plan for a city-club building is 
shown in Fig. 104. There is but little plumbing 
work required on this floor; a main toilet room, the 
work necessary to fit up a bar in the barroom and, 
possibly, a drinking -fountain are all that will 
usually be required. In case there are bowling 
alleys in the basement shower baths might Hkewise 
be located adjoining a dressing room on this floor, 
although they may equally well be placed on the 
floor below, convenient to the alleys, so that mem- 
bers can have a shower after playing. 

The second-floor plan of the building is shown 
in Fig. 105. A good provision in a building of this 

207 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




208 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




209 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

kind is to fit up a toilet room for women on this 
floor in addition* to the one for men. This is not 
necessary if women are always to be excluded from 
the building, but there are but few clubs in which 
there are not occasional ladies' days, when the 
doors are thrown open to the wives, daughters and 
acquaintances of the members, and some provision 
should be made for such occasions. 

If the dining-rooms are to be situated on this 
floor a kitchen sink with drip board will be found 
very convenient in the serving-room. Slop sinks 
will likewise be found serviceable on all floors of 
the building. 

In Fig. 106 is shown the third floor of the 
building. On account of the kitchen being located 
on this floor the plumbing work here amounts to a 
considerable item. In addition to the plumbing 
work required in a fully equipped kitchen of this 
character there is a general toilet room on this floor 
and a servants' room for the use of the help. 

The dormitory floors of the building are shown 
in Fig. 107, which illustrates the fourth and fifth- 
floor plans of the building. On these two floors 
are installed the greatest number of plumbing fix- 
tures in the building. 

Each sleeping room, as may be seen by the il- 
lustration, has a bath room adjoining. In addition 
to the usual hot and cold water, ice water may be 
served here through pipes, the same as in hotel 
buildings, and besides the regular plumbing in- 
stallation fire lines will be found advisable in club 
buildings. 

210 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




211 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

Athletic Clubs. — Athletic clubs differ but little 
from the usual city club, outside of those parts of 
the building set aside for athletics. A large swim- 
ming pool is part of every well-equipped athletic 
club, and showers must be provided near by for the 
members to wash in before entering the pool. The 
pool will usually be located in the basement, and 
here, likewise, will be found the Turkish bath 
rooms. 

On the second or some upper floor of the build- 
ing will be located the gymnasium, boxing, wrestling 
and fencing rooms, and convenient to them should 
be the dressing rooms, with lockers, and the shower 
room adjoining the dressing room. Smokers, at 
which vaudeville entertainments are given, are 
usually a feature of athletic clubs, and a couple of 
dressing rooms near the stage in the gymnasium 
will be found necessary. In these rooms there 
should be lavatories, and if no other provision is 
made in the building for women, a water closet 
should be provided adjoining one of the dressing 
rooms for the use of women performers. 

The athletic club resembles in many of its fea- 
tures a Y. M. C. A. building, yet there are so many 
differences that it resembles more a composite of a 
Y. M. C. A. building and an ordinary city club. 

In none of the buildings mentioned so far has 
the matter of rain leaders, yard and area drains 
been mentioned, although, of course, in all build- 
ings provision must be made for conducting away 
the rain water so it will not create a nuisance, 
while yards and areas which are paved must have 
some provision made for drainage. 

212 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




213 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

In cities where separate systems of sewers are 
provided, one for storm water and the other for 
sewage, two systems of drainage will be required 
in buildings; one for the rain water and the other 
for sewage. On the other hand, where the com- 
bined system of sewers is in use, the storm water 
from rain leaders, yard and area drains can dis- 
charge freely with the house drain. 

Whether the combined or separate system of 
sewers is used, rain leaders will be required, and, 
generally speaking, it will be better in cold climates 
to locate them inside of the building, where they 
will be protected from the frost, and be less liable 
to freeze up and burst. When located inside, how- 
ever, to allow for the constant expansion and con- 
traction of the pipes due to changes of tempera- 
ture, each leader should be connected to the roof 
gutter by means of a short piece of lead pipe hav- 
ing circumferential corrugations to allow the ex- 
pansion and contraction without injury to the 
leader or roofing. 




214 




CHURCHES 




PLANNING THE PLUMBING 
FOR CHURCHES 

HE sanitation of churches is usually 
neglected. Perhaps on account of the 
limited use to which this class of build- 
ing is put it has been deemed unneces- 
sary, up to the present time, for any 
special provision to be made for the comfort and 
convenience of the congregation. There is no rea- 
son, however, why churches should be treated any 
differently in this respect than any other building 
where a large number of people congregate for a 
short period of time. Where such conditions ob- 
tain there should be a retiring room for women, 
with toilet accommodations adjoining, and a suit- 
able toilet room should likewise be provided for 
the men. 

In view of the fact that church services, Sun- 
day school, lectures and other church functions sel- 
dom last over an hour, as liberal toilet accommoda- 
tions are not necessary as would be required for a 
school building, factory or any place where the 

215 ' 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

meetings last longer. Perhaps, everything con- 
sidered, an allowance of one water closet for each 
seventy-five women, or fraction of that number, in 
the congregation, and a like allowance of one 
urinal and one water closet for every hundred 
men, or fraction of that number, in the congrega- 
tion, would prove sufficient. At all events, this 
feature of church sanitation has been too long 
neglected, and later designs should not be found 
lacking in this respect. Of course, each toilet room 
would be provided with a lavatory, as is customary 
in all toilet rooms. 

In addition to the general toilet rooms there 
should be a private toilet room for the officiating 
clergyman or priest, suitably located adjoining his 
private room. 

The foregoing requirements are common to 
churches of all denominations. There are other 
requirements, however, which are peculiar to cer- 
tain churches, while still others are matters of con- 
venience, which may be included in or omitted from 
churches of any denomination. 

In Baptist churches, for instance, or other 
churches where immersion is practiced, a tank for 
baptizing is an important part of the plumbing in- 
stallation. In such churches the tank may be built 
under the rostrum and slides placed in front so that 
they can be removed during the ritual of immer- 
sion to enable the congregation to witness the cere- 
mony. Tanks for this purpose are usually of large 
dimensions, 8 to 10 feet long, 5 to 7 feet wide, with 
steps at one end leading down to the bottom. The 
tank may be made of wood lined with sheet lead, 

216 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

as is the more common practice, or it may be made 
of cement, concrete or bricks, and lined with glazed 
tile. In either case provision must be made for 
heating the v/ater to take off the chill when in use 
so the people who are baptized will not suffer too 
severe a shock from the cold v/ater or run the risk 
of becoming chilled and contracting a cold. A 
dressing room, fitted with a lavatary, will be found 
desirable, if not actually necessary, for the dis- 
robing and robing of those who are to be im- 
mersed. 

In churches of many denominations sociables 
and suppers given for charity are matters of such 
common occurrence that in designing such a build- 
ing those entertainment functions should be taken 
into account and a suitable kitchen provided with 
sinks, range and hot and cold filtered water. 

In some churches water motors are used for 
pumping the organ, and when such is the case suit- 
able outlets, both in the drainage system and in the 
water supply pipes, should be provided. 

Drinking fountains would not be amiss in 
church buildings and they may be located in some 
sheltered nook in the outer nave, in which case one 
would be sufficient, or separate drinking fountains 
may be located in the women's and men's rooms. 
In either event some type of sanitary fountain 
would be found preferable. 

A sanitary provision which should not be over- 
looked in churches is the installation of a vacuum 
cleaner to keep the church free from dust. Many 
of the seats in churches have upholstered cushions, 
while the aisles are covered with runners. These 

217 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

become charged with dust brought in by people and 
from infiltration during the week, so that when 
stirred up by walking, and stirring about in the 
seats, affects the lungs and is anything but pleas- 
ant or sanitary. A good vacuum cleaning outfit 
would rid the church of the dirt and dust on Satur- 
days, leaving it in good condition for the Sunday 
services. Brooms and dusters are of no use for 
this purpose, as they but stir up the fine and more 
irritating particles, which, later, settle again ready 
for further mischief. 

A. good ventilation system is equally desirable 
in church buildings. Where many people congre- 
gate, as they do in church, the air becomes vitiated 
unless a constant supply of pure, fresh air is con- 
stantly forced in from outside. The air used for 
this purpose should further be passed through an 
air filter or an air washer to remove all particles of 
dirt, soot and dust. 




218 




PLANNING THE PLUMBING FOR 
VARIOUS STRUCTURES 




PLANNING THE PLUMBING 
FOR LIBRARIES 

HE library is another class of buildings 
in which the public is wholly ignored, 
so far as toilet accommodations are 
concerned. Why this should be is hard 
M to determine, but the fact remains that 
in comparatively few library buildings throughout 
the country have any sanitary provisions been 
made for the visiting public. That is not as it 
should be. Wherever a building of a semi-public 
nature is erected some provision should be made 
for the accommodation of the public which is in- 
vited by the opening of its doors. The public toilet 
accommodations for the ordinary library building 
need not be large or extensive, as a large number 
of people seldom congregate there— a couple of 
water closets in the women's toilet room and one 
or two water closets and a urinal in the men's com- 
partment are about all that will ordinarily be re- 
quired. 



219 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

In addition to the public toilet rooms a drink- 
ing fountain will be found desirable in all public 
libraries, and private toilet accommodations should 
be provided for the employees of the building. 

PLANNING THE PLUMBING FOR 
FIRE-ENGINE HOUSES 

There is not much plumbing w^ork in a fire-en- 
gine house, but what little there is differs so from 
the work in other classes of buildings that it will 
stand explaining in detail. 

The plumbing work in fire-engine houses may 
be considered as belonging to three distinct divi- 
sions. First, there are the fixtures for the com- 
fort and convenience of the firemen; second, 
plumbing work required by the horses, and, third, 
the plumbing work necessitated by the fire-fighting 
apparatus. 

As the men sleep on the second floor of the 
building all the usual comforts and conveniences in 
the way of bath tubs, shower baths, lavatories and 
water closets should be provided that would be 
found in any well-equipped club. In a certain 
sense the fire-engine house is a club where the men 
live and sleep, and the necessary toilet accommoda- 
tions must be provided for their comfort. A good 
shower bath, or a needle shower and spray bath, 
will be found a welcome addition to the equipment. 
When the men return from fighting flames they 
are covered with perspiration from their own ex- 
ertions and grime from the soot and ashes of the 
fire, and a good hot shower bath will be found not 

220 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

only grateful but quicker and easier for them to 
take than the regular tubbing. Of course, a plen- 
tiful supply of hot water will be necessary in a fire- 
engine house, and in addition to the shower bath 
there should be a regular bath tub. If there are 
over fifteen men attached to a house there should 
be a couple of bath tubs and water closets for their 
use. Enough lavatories should likewise be pro- 
vided so that men will not have to stand around 
waiting for one another to get through washing. 

For the horses, stall drains connected to the 
drainage system will be required, and besides the 
usual drinking troughs for the horses, outlets must 
be provided for attaching the hose so that the 
floors and apparatus can be cleaned. Floor drains 
will be required in the apparatus room so that water 
can be freely splashed on the fioor without collect- 
ing in pools. 

In fire-engine houses where steam engines are 
kept a water heater will be required in the base- 
ment to keep up the temperature of water in the 
steam engine to near the boiling point. While 
standing idle waiting for a call the fire engine is 
kindled ready to apply the torch and set the fur- 
nace going. If the water were allowed to cool, 
however, there would be no head of steam when a 
fire was reached. To overcome this difficulty a sta- 
tionary boiler or water heater is provided in the 
basement of the engine house, and the flow and 
return pipes are connected to the engine by means 
of flexible or automatic connections so that water 
from the boiler will circulate freely through the 
fire engine, thus keeping the temperature almost 

221 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

at the steaming point and ready at a moment*s 
notice for the start to a fire,, 

PLANNING THE PLUMBING FOR 
FACTORY BUILDINGS 

Manufacturing buildings differ so from one 
another in what is required in the way of water 
supply and waste connections for the industrial 
purposes to which they will be put that no rules 
can be laid down which will be applicable to all. 
The only suggestion of any value is to see that the 
quality of water is suitable for the purpose. Many 
industries require a hard water for use in their 
processes, while the greater number must have soft 
water, and all factories prefer soft water for boiler 
feed. The best thing to do when designing a build- 
ing for industrial purposes is to consult with the 
superintendent or manager of the plant as to his 
requirements. 

So far as the comfort and convenience of the 
employees are concerned all factory buildings are 
very much alike and not any of them require a 
great amount of plumbing. Of the small amount 
that is required a supply of drinking water will be 
found in the front rank, and it will be found a 
matter of policy to filter all water used at the 
drinking fountains. Outside of the drinking foun- 
tains all that will be required are separate toilet 
rooms for the men and women and another toilet 
room for the ofifice help. Ordinarily it will be 
found that one water closet and one urinal for each 
twenty male employees, or part of that number, 

222 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

and one water closet for each twenty female em- 
ployees, or part of that number, is the smallest pos- 
sible allowance. The closets should be grouped 
on each floor of tall buildings, or at least on each 
alternate floor of the building. In low factory 
buildings, not over two stories in height but spread 
out over a large area, the toilet accommodations 
are better scattered throughout the premises at 
convenient points. A good arrangement is to have 
the water closets in a separate compartment ad- 
joining the locker room and have the lavatories lo- 
cated in the locker room. The number of lavatories 
will generally depend upon the generosity of the 
management, but one lavatory to ten employees is 
about the average allowance. In factories where 
the work is particularly dirty, as well as in many 
other establishments where the management can 
be made to see the value of cleanliness, shower 
baths are provided for the employees. These need 
not be expensive affairs and may be set in one large 
shower room with sloping cement floor. Such 
shower buildings are provided at the main shaft of 
many mines in the anthracite region. 

It might seem unnecessary to remark that a 
retiring room adjoining the women's toilet and 
wash room, and furnished with sanitary cots, 
should be provided in all factories employing 
women. Accidents and sickness are not of infre- 
quent occurrence in such places, and common de- 
cency, if not humanity, should dictate that some 
place besides the floor of the factory be provided 
for the unfortunates. 

223 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

Factory buildings, of course, will be well 
equipped with fire lines and sprinkler systems, but 
that part of the installation is more in the nature 
of fire protection and cannot be considered as be- 
longing to the sanitary equipment. 

PLANNING THE PLUMBING FOR 
OFFICE BUILDINGS 

The plumbing work in office buildings is gen- 
erally a simple matter, being merely a repetition of 
the installation on one floor above another. In 
large office buildings, however, the plumbing work 
is one of the most important items from a financial 
standpoint, and in many cases there are special 
features to be provided for, which take the work 
out of the simple class. 

Ordinarily the plumbing work for office build- 
ings consists of a women's toilet room and a men's 
toilet room on each floor of the building; also a slop 
sink on each floor of the building, located either in 
a janitor's closet or in one of the toilet rooms. In 
the better class of office buildings separate lava- 
tories, supplied with hot and cold water, are pro- 
vided in each office or suite of offices in the build- 
ing. No doubt, in the course of time, a private 
toilet room will be considered necessary in every 
large office suite, for the use of the head of the 
concern. There is no reason why a private toilet 
room, complete in every respect, should not be 
provided in such cases, in addition to the general 
or public toilet accommodations on each floor. 

224 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

Drinking fountains are common to some office 
buildings, where one is located on each floor and 
supplied with purified water from a filter. 

In very tall buildings, which are carried a cor- 
responding distance below street level, subsurface 
sewage ejectors will be necessary to care for the 
sewage from the floors located below the street- 
sewer level. For the convenience of the engineers 
and firemen a fully equipped toilet room should be 
provided near the engine room, and a shower bath 
would add greatly to the comfort of these em- 
ployees. 

In many large office buildings barber shops are 
provided for on one of the floors, and here all neces- 
sary fixtures should be installed. Likewise res- 
taurants are sometimes a feature of office build- 
ings, in which cases the kitchens and serving rooms 
should be fully equipped. 

Provision of living rooms is made for the jani- 
tor^s family in some office buildings. The living 
apartments are usually located on the top floor, 
and, of course, should be fully equipped with plumb- 
ing fixtures. 

PLANNING THE PLUMBING FOR 
RAILWAY STATIONS 

Suburban Stations. — The suburban stations of 
a railway company generally possess two distinct 
functions — that is, the lower floor of the building, 
which usually is two stories in height, is given over 
to the official business of the company and the con- 
venience and comfort of the traveling public, while 

225 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

the second floor of the building is fitted up as a 
home for the station agent^s family. On the first 
floor of the building a toilet room for men, another 
for women, a slop sink for janitor service— which 
may be located in one of the toilet rooms or in the 
janitor^ s closet adjoining — and a drinking fountain 
usually complete the sanitary equipment. On the 
second floor of the building a bath room and kitchen, 
the same as in a private house or apartment, will 
complete the plumbing work for this class of build- 
ings. 

Terminal Stations.— Terminal stations, also 
way stations in large cities and at junctions, are 
of greater importance than suburban stations, and 
naturally have more extensive plumbing installa- 
tions. On the main floors of such buildings re- 
tiring rooms for women adjoining toilet rooms are 
necessary, and corresponding toilet rooms are re- 
quired for men. In the men's toilet rooms most of 
the fixtures will be free, while for the use of others 
a small fee may be charged, which will include 
soap and the use of a towel. Slop sinks will be 
found necessary on all floors of the building, and 
drinking fountains will be required on all the pub- 
lic floors. 

A barber shop is operated in all large station 
buildings, and in planning the work provision must 
be made for the barber flxtures. Likewise a lunch 
counter and dining room form part of a fully 
equipped passenger station, which necessitates the 
fitting up of a complete kitchen, serving room and 
waiters* locker room with toilets. The engineers 

226 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

and firemen must not be overlooked when planning 
the plumbing work and a fully equipped toilet room 
containing a shower should be provided for them. 

The upper floors of terminal stations are gen- 
erally given over to offices, so that this part of the 
station may be considered as an office building and 
fitted up in the same manner as would an ordinary 
office building. 

PLANNING THE PLUMBING FOR 
PRINTING OFFICES 

The only special provisions required for a print- 
ing office, outside of the usual fixtures common to 
all office buildings, are water supply and waste con- 
nections to each linotype and monotype machine; 
large sinks, supplied with hot and cold water, 
where small forms and other articles common to 
printing plants can be washed, and a special form 
sink where type forms can be cleaned. 

A form sink is best made of wood, dove-tailed 
together at the corners, and should be set on the 
floor in the press room, so that forms which are 
very heavy will not have to be lifted very high. 
The form sink should be supplied with hot and cold 
water through a combination cock having a hose 
connection, so that water of any desired tempera- 
ture can be played on the form through a short 
piece of hose. A form sink of this description, 
which has given good service and general satisfac- 
tion, is shown in Fig. 108. The sink is here illus- 
trated only as a suggestion, to be modified in form 
or size to suit any requirement. It will be found, 

227 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

however, that seldom will a larger form be found 
necessary. 

Compressed air is likewise required for many 
purposes around a large printing plant. It is used 
in connection with the feeding of presses, and is 
one of the agencies used in the operation of a mono- 




Comhinai/'or? H&f 

atfcf Co/c/ Wcf-fer 

Coc/f Wfih hosz eni/ 



"^ For - Pre-ss - Root^. ^ 
Fig. 108 

type or linotype machine. Water will generally be 
required to cool the cylinders of air compressors, 
and waste connections will be required to carry off 
the waste water when such is the case, while, in 
small plants, where water is plentiful, water- 
operated compressors might be used for compress- 
ing the air. 

228 




PUBLIC BATH HOUSES 




EGESSITY for Bath Houses. — The 

benefits of public bath houses are so 
numerous and the advantages to a com- 
munity arising from a well-planned 
system of such buildings are so well 
known that further comment would seem unneces- 
sary outside of pointing out the extent to which 
public baths are patronized. In Boston, for exam- 
ple, where much thought and care are given to 
baths, over five hundred thousand people bathe an- 
nually. In Glasgow, Scotland, 853,000 was the 
total number for their banner year. In New York 
City at one bath house alone in one year 865,650 
people, over one-third of whom were women, 
availed themselves of its advantages; while in 
Cleveland 172,000 people have visited a single bath 
house in one year. This liberal use of public bath 
houses, wherever they have been erected, points 
out more forcibly than could words the necessity 
for the erection of bath houses in all cities of what- 
soever size and class. In manufacturing or mining 
towns and large commercial centers the necessity 



229 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

for bath houses will be found the more urgent, but 
there is not a city or village throughout the land 
where bathing facilities are not lacking for the 
great mass of people. In the smaller cities and 
villages, where cost must be considered, the base- 
ment of school houses, town halls or other public 
buildings can easily and at small cost be fitted up 
as public baths. If the baths are located in the 
basement of school buildings so much the better, 
for school children can then avail themselves of the 
advantages during the day-time and the general 
public at night. • 

Location of Bath Houses. — In locating pubhc 
bath houses it is of the utmost importance that 
they be placed in the districts where there are the 
greatest demands for their use, and the buildings 
should be located as centrally as possible within 
those precincts, so they will be readily accessible 
from all points without entailing a long walk. It 
is obvious that men or women, tired after a hard 
day's work, will think twice before walking a 
dozen blocks for a bath, no matter how much good 
it would do them, whereas they would not hesitate 
a minute if the bath house were near by. In or- 
der that the bath might be brought, if not home to 
the patrons, at least convenient for all, it would be 
better in large districts to erect several bath houses 
at different points in preference to one large bath 
house of the combined capacity of the several at 
some central location. 

If distance has a deterrent effect on attend- 
ance, no less so has the architectural character of 

230 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

the building, an imposing and formal exterior 
frightening the more timid away, while a less pre- 
tentious building, more in keeping with the neigh- 
borhood, attracts them or invites their confidence. 
Such timidity might seem foolish, but, neverthe- 
less, it is true, particularly in districts where bath 
houses are first being introduced. It would be 
well, therefore, in such cases, to make the build- 
ings simple and attractive, both inside and outside, 
so far as architectural enrichment or sumptuous 
furnishings are concerned. Cleanliness, simplicity 
and sanitary completeness should be the corner- 
stones of the edifice. 

Requirements of a Public Bath. — In order that 
some one will be on the premises at all times to 
give the building personal attention, living-rooms 
are provided for the superintendents of public bath 
houses, usually on the top floor, and these living- 
rooms require all of the sanitary appliances of a 
like apartment in any other building. In the bath 
house proper the requirements will depend to a 
great extent on the completeness of the equipment. 
For instance, but few baths are provided with a 
hot-air room, or * 'sweat room, ' * such as is used in 
a Turkish bath, yet no more beneficial provision 
could be made, for the "sweat bath'* is the most 
cleansing to the skin and purifying to the blood of 
all the baths. As the installation of a "sweat 
room'' is a very simple matter and not at all costly, 
it would seem that no public bath should be erected 
without this important adjunct. From the hot-air 
room the bather could pass to a shower bath for a 

231 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

good scrubbing and subsequent cold spray to close 
the pores and tone the system. Next to the hot- 
air bath and the vapor bath the ordinary bath tub 
is the most beneficial, but outside of some bath 
rooms in the women's apartments tubs are not so 
desirable as shower baths. Soap and dirt cling to 
the surface of bath tubs and would have to be cleaned 
away after each bath. Liability exists of spread- 
ing disease if the tubs are not properly cleansed, 
and, finally, more time would be required for each 
bather if tubs were used, without giving them the 
advantage of a cold shower to finish off with. For 
these reasons overhead shower nozzles are com- 
monly provided for general use in public baths, 
and bath tubs provided only in a few of the com- 
partments in the women's departments, where they 
may be used by women either for themselves or 
for bathing children. 

In addition to bathing-facilities, toilet accom- 
modations must be provided both for men and 
women, and instead of having separate days when 
the bath house is for the exclusive use of men or 
women, it is much better to have separate com- 
partments where either can bathe at any time. 

In the larger and more complete bath houses 
plunge baths are constructed, and while they add 
greatly to the attractiveness of the place, and 
tempt many people to the establishment during the 
summer months, still they are not of much value 
from a bathing standpoint, as they are very poor 
cleansers of the person. As between the plunge 
bath and the hot room, the latter is by far the 
more preferable where real value instead of at- 

232 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

tractiveness is desired. Swimming-baths, on the 
other hand, do untold good by alluring people to 
the bath house who otherwise would not attend, 
thus making of them regular patrons. 

In order to launder numerous towels, sheets 
and bathing-trunks, unavoidably soiled in a bath 
house, a laundry is indispensable, and this may 
well be located in the basement. Rotary machine 
washers, centrifugal water extractors, drying-racks 
and mangles, all run by power, are about all that 
will be required even in the largest establishments. 

Fees for Bathing. — The question whether a fee 
will be charged for the use of a bath is one which 
must be settled in every city which establishes a 
bath house. There is no doubt but that the ideal 
condition would be free baths, where soap, water, 
towel and the use of a compartment could be had 
without cost; but if the cost of maintaining one 
free bath would prevent the construction of an- 
other — in other words, if more pay bath houses 
could be built than free ones — it is doubtful if the 
better plan would not be to put up as many baths 
as were necessary or desirable and charge a small 
fee at all of them. By this plan the greatest 
amount of good would be done to the greatest num- 
ber of people. 

Again, as a rule people do not care to be de- 
pendent on others for assistance and would sooner 
pay their own way, particularly if the cost be mod- 
erate. That being true, a larger attendance can 
be expected if a small fee be exacted. 

233 



Plumbing Plans and Specific a tions 

If a fee be charged for the privilege of a bath 
the fee should be only high enough so the patron's 
self respect will not suffer, not so high that it would 
prevent the free use of the bath house by anybody. 
Children under any condition should be admitted 
free, and a charge of five cents should be the most 
that would be exacted from anybody. Where 
there is no free list outside of children, tickets 
might be sold at, say, ten for a quarter, making 
the cost per bath two and one-half cents. This 
small fee would not prohibit any one, for, even 
though they could not afford the money, some one 
would give them a ticket, and even a pauper would 
feel more independent attending on a free ticket 
than asking for a free bath. 

, Where a hot-air room is provided, a fee of ten 
cents might be charged for what would be equiva- 
lent to a Turkish bath. In Glasgow, Scotland, a 
complete Turkish bath with massage can be had 
for twenty-five cents, so without personal attention 
the bath ought to be possible for ten cents. So 
far as the massage is concerned, that which is 
given in a Turkish bath may just as well be 
omitted, and there is nothing else about the process 
which the bather cannot do for himself. 

Public Wash Houses. — Public wash houses 
have been found as great a boon in poor districts 
as have the public baths, and the two now go hand 
in hand. In many cities the public baths are com- 
bined with the public wash houses in one building 
and this practice, no doubt, will spread with time. 

234 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




235 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

In public wash houses, for the small fee of four 
cents per hour, a woman can have soap, water, 
heat, light, a set of wash trays connected with hot 
and cold water and waste, and a corresponding 
rack in the drying-room, as well as the use of a 
mechanical washer, centrifugal water extractor, 
mangle, irons, heated iron stoves, ironing-boards 
and table— everything, in fact, that would be found 
in a fully equipped private laundry. All she needs 
to bring is the soiled clothing, which is taken away 
dry and clean. The interior of a large wash house 
in Glasgow, Scotland, showing the separate booths 
containing tubs, moisture extractors, and doors 
leading into the drying-racks, may be seen in the 
half-tone illustration, Fig. 109. 

In large bathing establishments which are com- 
bined with public wash houses a separate laundry 
is maintained for the establishment, so that there 
will be no confusion between the public wash house 
and the bath-house laundry. 

EXAMPLE OF A PUBLIC BATH 
AND WASH HOUSE 

The basement floor of a public bath and wash 
house is shown in Fig. 110. This floor is given 
over to the public wash house and contains, in ad- 
dition to the hall, storage room and engine room, 
the public laundry. In the laundry are eight sets 
of two laundry tubs, a machine washer, drying- 
racks and ironing-table. 

The plan of the first floor of the same building 
is shown in Fig. 111. This floor contains the men's 

236 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




237 



Plumbing Plans and Specif i c a t i o n s 

baths and a toilet room, besides a reception or wait- 
ing-room, where patrons can be made comfortable 
while awaiting their turn. The main bath room is 
divided up into twenty separate booths, ten on each 
side, divided by a corridor. The booths are again 
subdivided into the inner shower rooms and the 
outer, or dressing, rooms. All that the dressing 
rooms contain are hooks on which to hang clothes 
and a stool, or seat, on which to sit. The partitions 
are of slate, marble or glass, about seven feet high, 
and the tops are covered with wire screens to pre- 
vent clothing or other valuables being "lifted' ' 
from one compartment to another. 

The women's booths are on the second floor, as 
shown in Fig. 112. Here, in addition to the show- 
ers, are two booths containing bath tubs and a sepa- 
rate bath room for children. A nursery is likewise 
provided and a reception room for the women wait- 
ing for a bath. 

PUBLIC PLAYGROUNDS 

A description of public conveniences — like com- 
fort stations, bath and wash houses — would not be 
complete without some reference to public play- 
grounds, such as are receiving so much attention 
at present in the more progressive of the large 
cities. These public playgrounds, with their neces- 
sary buildings, provide facilities for all kinds of 
amusements, sports and comforts, and must, there- 
fore, possess many of the features of a public com- 
fort station, club building, library, restaurant, gym- 
nasium, bath house and recreation park combined, 

238 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




239 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

as may be seen by referring to Fig. 113, which 
shows the layout of a typical small playground in 
Chicago. Plans of the first and second floor of the 
recreation building erected on this park are shown 
in Fig. 114. Ample toilet accommodations, both 
for men and women, are provided in this building. 
In the indoor gymnasiums, in addition to the douche 
baths, there is a plunge bath, while outside in the 
open air is a large, delightful swimming-pool, a 
typical scene from which is shown in Fig 115. A 
shower house is provided close beside the swim- 
ming-pool, so that a thorough wash can be had be- 
fore entering the water. See Fig. 116. The out- 
door gymnasium is fully equipped with every kind 
of device that lovers of gymnastics could wish for, 
as may be seen in Fig. 117, while not least in im- 
portance is a sandy-bottom wading-pool. Fig. 118, 
in the children's playground, and close by is a sand 
court in which the children can build sand houses 
and make mud pies. Scattered throughout the 
grounds, at convenient points, sanitary drinking- 
fountains. Fig. 119, have been provided, so that no 
one need want for any personal necessities in the 
park. 

Public playgrounds are badly needed in all large 
cities, and sufficient space should be provided in 
each so that all the children included within the 
district can have a chance at their favorite pastimes. 
A sufficient number of playgrounds likewise should 
be provided so that each section of the city or dis- 
trict would have one of its own. 

In the condemning of property for a play- 
ground site, a good plan is to select some run- 

240 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 






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241 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

down ramshackle neighborhood where the dilapi- 
dated buildings and poor sanitary conditions are a 
menace to the health of the inhabitants, and by 
tearing down the old rookeries, convert this into 
one of the beauty spots as well as a useful city 
property. 

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ming pools may well be made serve as swimming 
schools, where boys and girls can be taught the art 
of swimming. A competent teacher or two in the 
course of a season would teach thousands to keep 
afloat in the water, and be able to save themselves 
in case of an accidental plunge into a lake or river. 

The playground buildings, if properly con- 
ducted, can be made serve as boys' clubs, both 
winter and summer. If suitable instructors are 
provided, both in athletics and in manual training, 
the surplus energy in boys, the element which 
often leads a good boy astray by being misdirected, 
can be trained and turned into useful channels, re- 
imbursing both the city and state a thousand fold. 




242 




PLUMBING WORK IN THEATERS, 
HOSPITALS AND PRISONS 




HE plumbing work in theaters may be 
conveniently divided into three differ- 
ent groups, each classified according to 
the purpose which it serves. The work 
and fixtures included in group No. 1 
are intended solely for the accommodation and con- 
venience of patrons of the theater. The work and 
fixtures in group No. 2 are for the use of the play- 
ers while the fixtures in the final group are for 
the employees of the theater. As the patrons of a 
theater are restricted to the tier where their seats 
are located, whether gallery, balcony or orchestra 
—separate accommodation should be provided on 
the different tiers — a toilet room or, perhaps, smok- 
ing, lounging and toilet room for the men and a re- 
tiring and toilet room for the women. So far as 
the public is concerned, no further toilet accommo- 
dations will be required. 

For the convenience of the players a lavatory 
with hot and cold water should be provided in each 
dressing room, while the leading actor usually has 

243 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

a complete toilet room adjoining the dressing room. 
In addition, in that part of the building where the 
dressing rooms are located liberal toilet provision 
must be made for the actors, chorus and supers, 
both male and female, and a shower will be found 
a great convenience for actors in performances 
where tumbling, turning or like violent exercises 
are performed. 

The mechanical installation for the theater and 
fixtures for the employees begin first in the man- 
ager's office, adjoining which a toilet room should 
be provided. In addition, in some part of that por- 
tion of the building taken up by the stage, wings 
and files toilet accommodations must be provided 
for the stage hands and general employees, while 
near the engine room a toilet room will be required 
for the engineer and his help. 

In order to be prepared for spectacular produc- 
tions, in which there will be a water scene requir- 
ing a large tank of water, an extra large water 
main should be extended into the building, with all 
necessary controlling valves, so temporary connec- 
tions can be made to temporary tanks or the water 
piped to other points to produce waterfalls or other 
water effects. The size of water main should be 
calculated in each ease, so that the tank can be 
filled in the minimum time. 

Not less important than filling the tank is the 
emptying of it, and a sufficiently large waste pipe 
to the sewer should be provided for this purpose, 
with all necessary valves and outlets where tem- 
porary connections can be made. 

244 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



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South Park Commissioners' Armour Square, Typical of Other Small Parks, Chicago, 1906 



245 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

The pumps, sprinklers, systems, tanks and all 
the necessary piping and apparatus for fighting 
fire should likewise be included in the mechanical 
installation, but fire pumps and piping belong more 
to fire-fighting apparatus than to the sanitary lay- 
out and will not be considered here. 

HOSPITALS 

Hospital plumbing stands in a class by itself, 
and there is, perhaps, no other kind of building in 
which good plumbing work, materials and fixtures 
are of so much importance, particularly in that 
part of the installation which has to do with sur- 
gical cases and the preparation for operations. 
There are four divisions of the plumbing in hos- 
pitals — that which is installed for the general wel- 
fare of the patients, the fixtures and apparatus re- 
quired for the institution as a whole, provision for 
the doctors and nurses, and apparatus and fixtures 
used in the curing of diseases and performing of 
operations. 

In all large hospitals the patients may be 
roughly grouped as private cases, ward patients 
and children. The private patients are quartered 
in private rooms, the same as in a hotel building, 
and bath rooms should be provided adjoining these 
private rooms in the same manner as in hotels and 
club buildings. 

In private rooms which are not connected with 
a bath room stationary lavatories, at least, should 
be provided. 

246 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



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Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

For the accommodation of ward patients gen- 
eral toilet rooms, also bathing facilities, are pro- 
vided convenient to the wards, and in the receiving 
wards showers which can be operated by an attend- 
ant from a distance are very desirable, particularly 
where charity patients are received, so that when 




Fig. 115 
Typical Swimming' Pool Scene 

necessary the incoming patient can be thoroughly 
scrubbed before being assigned to quarters in the 
hospital. 

For the children's ward a bath room can be 
fitted up in which infants' and children's baths are 
installed. Likewise in the toilet rooms children's 
closets, which are only about twelve inches high, 

248 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

may be specified instead of the standard size of 
closets. 

For the institution in general a kitchen and diet 
kitchen, a laundry, water-heating apparatus, fire 
lines, helps' toilet and bathing accommodations, 
engineers' toilet room and sundry other provisions 




Fig. 116 
A Thorough Wash Before Entering Swimming Pool 

will be necessary. In like manner toilet and bath- 
ing facilities will be necessary for the doctors and 
nurses. 

All of the foregoing enumerated sanitary re- 
quirements are common to all institutions of this 
character and differ but little in the various hos- 
pitals. When, however, the matter of sanitary ap- 

249 



PlumbingPlans and Specifications 



pliances for use in the surgical wing of the building 
is to be considered it will be well to go over the 
matter thoroughly with the surgeon having charge 
of that branch of the hospital work. Before doing 
so the designer should familiarize himself with the 
various fixtures and appliances designed for hos- 
pital service and the advantages and limitations of 
each when they have been installed. 




Fig. 117 
An Outdoor Gymnasium 

Portable bath tubs on wheels, some of them 
fitted with frames for the immersion of typhoid- 
fever and sunstroke patients, are among the plumb- 
ing fixtures which will be required, and a sink or 
other receptor, set with the top level with the floor, 
will be found necessary for drawing off the waste 

250 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




251 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



water from the tubs. Further, hot and cold water 
faucets, with long swing spouts set over the sink, 
will be required for filling the tubs. 

Slop sinks will be required at suitable places to 
facilitate the cleaning of wards, rooms and corri- 
dors, and floor drains will be found necessary in 
some places — as, for instance, the operating rooms, 
autopsy rooms and morgue. A battery of lava- 
tories fitted with knee-action or pedal arrange- 
ments for turning 
on or shutting off 
water and operat- 
ing the waste plug 
will be found de- 
sirable in the doc- 
tors* wash room, 
where they clean 
their hands before 
and after opera- 
tions. 

Hospital sinks 
will be required 
in the examining 
rooms, operating 
rooms, morgue, 
wards, toilet rooms, sterilizing rooms and, possibly, 
at other points, while hospital lavatories with knee- 
action or pedal-operated cocks will be found de- 
sirable in the operating, sterilizing and anesthizing 
rooms. At some of the fixtures in the operating, 
sterilizing and other rooms connected with the 
operating room, sterilized water will be required, 
and special water-distilling apparatus will be neces- 

252 




Fig-. 119 
Typical Drinking Fountain Scene 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

sary for this purpose, together with the pipes lead- 
ing to the fixtures. Sterilizing apparatus will like- 
wise be required and will be located, no doubt, in 
a special room set aside for sterilizing purposes. 
In this room, in addition to lavatories and a sink, 
large, deep vats or tubs, similar to sinks but much 
deeper and provided with plugs, will be necessary 
for holding antiseptic fluids. A portable immer- 
sion tub of this description set upon a framework 
with wheels will be found convenient for moving 
from place to place— as, for instance, into an 
operating room — so that basins and other utensils 
used during an operation can be immersed from 
time to time in the antiseptic solution. 

In the laboratory considerable plumbing will 
likewise be required, the kind and amount depend- 
ing largely upon the size and completeness of the 
laboratory equipment. Autopsy tables with waste 
connections in the autopsy room, and mortuary 
slabs in the morgue, will also be required, and sinks 
will be convenient in most of the rooms referred to 
in the surgical quarter. 

In addition to all of the fixtures and apparatus 
enumerated in the foregoing paragraphs a complete 
Turkish bath will be found of value in all large hos- 
pitals, while apparatus for hydrotherapeutic treat- 
ment of patients will be found necessary in some 
hospitals and sanitariums. 

PRISONS 

The plumbing work in jails and prisons is sim- 
ple as can be, yet the installations are of necessity 
as full and complete as that of a hotel or club 

253 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

house. Most of the plumbing work in prisons is in 
the tiers of cells, each one of which is provided 
with a lavatory and water closet for the con- 
venience of the prisoners. 

In addition to the plumbing work in the cells, 
a prison requires a kitchen, bakery and laundry, as 
fully equipped with fixtures as would be a hotel de- 
signed to accommodate an equal number of people. 
In the keeper^s quarters toilet and bathing facili- 
ties should not be overlooked, and a bath room for 
the prisoners is a vital necessity, where at least 
once a week each inmate can have a thorough 
scrubbing. 




254 




PLANNING PUBLIC CONVENIENCE 
STATIONS 




F PUBLIC toilet accommodations are 
necessary in public and semi-public 
buildings where a large number of peo- 
ple congregate, how much more neces- 
sary are toilet accommodations or pub- 
lic comfort stations in city squares, public parks and 
other places which at times are congested by 
masses of people brought together by business or 
pleasure? Some idea of the necessity for public 
convenience stations in large cities may be gained 
by a statement of the number of people that avail 
themselves of the advantages thus offered in cities 
where stations have been erected. For instance, 
the number of people that visited the under- 
ground public convenience station at Thirteenth 
Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, 
D. C, during the month of August, 1907, was 
86,500. Of those, 4,600 visited the station during 
one day — that being the greatest number for an 
open period— and 1,100 was the minimum number 
of people that visited the station during any one 

255 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

day. During the same month the pubhc con- 
venience station at Seventh Street and Pennsyl- 
vania Avenue in the same city had an attendance 
of 88,000, of v^hich 4,300 attended on the maximum 
day and 1, 600 on the minimum day. Of the peo- 
ple visiting both those stations about 12 per cent, 
v^ere v^omen. In other words, during that month 
of August 10,380 women visited the Thirteenth 
Street station and 10, 560 women visited the Seventh 
Street station. 

That the free use of public convenience sta- 
tions is not confined to certain cities or localities, 
but is common to all, is evidenced by the attend- 
ance in other cities and in all quarters where such 
conveniences have been provided. In Brooklyn, 
during the months of January, February and 
March, 1908, 574,845 persons, or an average of 
almost 200, 000 persons per month, made use of the 
public convenience station at Lorimer Street and 
Broadway. Many more instances could be cited 
and statistics could be multiplied to show by the 
number who use them the real necessity for such 
conveniences, but the truth is so self evident that 
further comment as to their advisability seems un- 
necessary. 

Location for Public Convenience Stations.— 

Public convenience stations are necessary only in 
the business, theatrical and shopping districts of 
large cities and at public parks, recreation piers 
and like places of public assemblage. In the shop- 
ping, theatrical and business districts those corners 
or crossings where traffic is greatest will be found 

256 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

most desirable places for location of the stations. 
If there is a public square near by or a gore plot, 
such as is formed by the intersection of three or 
more streets or two streets at less than right 
angles, the public convenience station may well oc- 
cupy this gore plot. 

It may be laid down as a rule from which there 
can be no deviation without entailing loss and 
trouble that no public convenience station should 
be erected without making provision for an attend- 
ant and having some one in charge during the 
hours the building is open to the public. It is a 
fact, born of experience, that petty thieves will 
pilfer and vandals destroy the fittings and fixtures 
in public convenience stations as fast as they can 
be repaired or replaced if somebody is not in at- 
tendance to watch them. It will prove a matter 
of economy, therefore, instead of building several 
small one or two-fixture, dark, cold and illy lighted 
apologies in a district, to build one good substan- 
tial station, well lighted, comfortably heated, freely 
ventilated and perfectly sanitary in all respects, 
then put some one in charge to superintend the 
plant. 

Heating and ventilation are two features which 
must be well considered in the planning of a pub- 
lic convenience station. Without heat not only does 
it entail discomfort on the attendant and visitors, 
but further exposes the piping and fixtures to the 
danger of being damaged by the frost. If the 
building is not well ventilated, on the other hand, 
people will refuse to avail themselves of its doubt- 
ful advantages. 

257 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

EXAMPLES OF PUBLIC 
CONVENIENCE STATIONS 

An Above- Ground Station. — The front and 
rear elevations of a public convenience station built 
above ground are shown in the east elevation, Fig. 
120, and the west elevation. Fig. 121. The only- 
reason for showing these elevations in this work is 
because buildings of this character are not very- 
numerous, and the elevations are interpolated as a 
helpful suggestion to those who are called upon to 
design a public convenience station without having 
seen one. 

The valuable features of this station lie, how- 
ever, not so much in the elevation as in the interior 
arrangement, shown in Fig. 122. It will be noticed 
that the building is well lighted, both by windows 
and by artificial light. This is absolutely necessary 
if a clean, sanitary and pleasing interior is to be 
maintained. There is no greater foe to dirt and 
filth diseases than well-lighted nooks and crannies 
where dirt cannot be concealed. Next to light, air 
is the chief consideration, and, as may be seen by 
an examination of the layout on the floor plan, 
every closet compartment, all of the urinals and 
the rooms in general are liberally provided with 
ventilation. This in itself, however, would not be 
sufficient if means were not provided for moving 
the air, and to this end a fan is installed to me- 
chanically remove the air from the rooms, urinals 
and closet compartments. 

In order to heat the building and supply hot 
water to the lavatories, a boiler and water heater 

258 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




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Plumbing Plans and Specific at ions 

are necessary, and these are provided for in the 
boiler room. 

It will be seen that the building is divided by 
a masonry wall into two compartments, one for 
men and the other for women. Each compartment 
is further provided with an attendant's room and 
a closet with shelves for storing supplies. There 
are two special features to this public convenience 
station which will commend themselves to every 
one. In the women's department there is an 
emergency room, or retiring room, fitted with a cot, 
where a patient can be taken in case of emergency 
while medical attendance is summoned. Telephones 
are likewise provided to speedily communicate with 
distant points. 

The second special feature is pay compart- 
ments in both the women's and men's rooms. 
These pay compartments are fitted up with water 
closets and lavatories, and the use of one, together 
with a fresh cake of soap in an unbroken wrapper 
and a clean towel, can be had for the small sum of 
five cents. The pay compartments are about 7J 
feet long by 4J feet wide and can be conveniently 
used by hot and dirty travelers in which to take a 
refreshing sponge bath. 

Underground Public Convenience Stations. — 

A suitable site is not always available for an above- 
ground public convenience station, for a pubhc con- 
venience station built above ground might form 
more or less of an obstruction or might not lend 
itself readily to the decorative effect of the locality. 
In such cases, or when for any other reason it be- 

260 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 




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Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

comes necessary or advisable, public convenience 
stations may be built underground. 

A sectional view through the stairway of an 
underground public convenience station, showing 
an elevation of the structure, may be seen in Fig. 
123. In this station the stairways are located out- 
side of the building. Ordinarily, however, it will 
be found better to place them within when such a 
design is possible. This is more particularly true 
in cold climates, where, if located outside, they 
might become covered with ice, thereby proving 
dangerous to the visitors and the source of numer- 
ous lawsuits for damages by people injured by fall- 
ing on the icy surfaces. 

This illustration does not show the ventilator 
shaft, which projects above the top to carry off the 
exhaust air from within which is forced out by 
electrically operated fans. 

It might seem unnecessary to remark that all 
that part of the structure of an underground public 
convenience station which shows at the surface or 
projects above ground level should be made ornate 
and attractive rather than ugly and repellent. If 
a station is attractively designed and well man- 
aged it will prove a welcome convenience in any 
locaHty, not an objectionable feature or a nuisance. 

The interior arrangement of this underground 
public convenience station is shown in Fig. 124. 
It may be said that not only is this interior similar 
to the one previously shown, but, further, that the 
interiors of all public comfort stations are prac- 
tically the same, the arrangement and kind of fix- 
tures, shape and dimensions of the building, and 

262 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



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263 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 



general arrangement of the various compartments 
being the only details in which they differ. The 
object is to make every station a public convenience 
in every sense. To this end an attendant should 
be on duty both in the men's and women's com- 
partments at all times while the station is open, 
and the services of the attendants should be at the 
command of patrons free of charge. 

That all people shall be treated alike, tips 
should be barred and attendants should not be per- 
mitted to solicit visitors to purchase notions or nov- 
elties which they have for sale. Only such toilet 
articles as are necessary or convenient should be 
carried on hand for sale, and these should be ob- 
tainable for a small fee, which should go to the 
maintenance fund of the station, not be a per- 
sonal transaction of the attendant. Bootblacking 
privileges may be given or rented, pay telephone 
stations provided, and directories, maps and other 
charts and books should be on hand for free con- 
sultation, so that all possible information about the 
city — streets, hotels, theaters, libraries, schools, 
bath houses, art galleries and other points of inter- 
est—may be obtained. Drinking fountains may 
likewise be installed to minister to the wants of 
thirsty patrons, and soap, towels and other toilet 
necessities should be obtainable at small cost. 

The question whether to make a station self 
supporting often comes up for consideration. In 
densely crowded districts, where the attendance is 
large, the small fee of one cent per person would 
not only pay operating expenses and interest on 
the money invested but in from four to ten years 

264 



Plumbing Plans and Specific a tions 




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Plumbing Plans and Specifications 








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266 



Plumbing Plans and Specifications 

pay off the original indebtedness, leaving the build- 
ing free and clear. By charging one quarter cent 
each visit and issuing tickets of admission the 
operating expenses of the station can be earned. 

The plan of charging admission might satisfac- 
torily solve the problem for many municipaHties 
which otherwise could not see their way clear to 
assume the original indebtedness and yearly 
charges attendant upon the construction of a suit- 
able number of stations for the public needs. In 
such cases the public would not object to paying a 
nominal fee of one cent for adults — children f ree— 
and by this means within a few years the city 
would own the stations, when they could be thrown 
open to the free use of the public. It would be 
better, for instance, for a large city requiring 
twenty public convenience stations to erect them 
all and charge a small admission fee than to build 
only one for free use. When possible, however, 
to build and maintain free public convenience sta- 
tions no fee should be exacted. The prime object 
is to make the stations public conveniences and the 
full value of the convenience will not be experienced 
if a fee, no matter how small, is charged. 




267 



INDEX 



Above -ground Convenience 
Station, An 258 

Accommodations, Temporary 
Closet 118 

Advanced Schools— and Col- 
leges 165 

Analysis of Specifications 101 

Apparatus for Apartment 
Houses, Miscellaneous 154 

Apartment House Fixtures, 
Overflows for 154 

Apartment Houses 147 

Apartment Houses, Miscella- 
neous Apparatus for 154 

Apartment House Plans, Ex- 
ample of 152 

Apartment Houses, Planning 
the Plumbing in 147 

Apparatus on Plans, Indicating 
Plumbing 13 

Arbitration 113 

Arranging Fixtures in the 
Bathroom 57 

Athletic Clubs 212 



B 



Bath and Wash House, Exam- 
ple of a Pubhc 236 

Bath Houses, Location of 230 

Bath Houses, Necessity for 229 

Bath Houses, Public 229 

Bath in the Home, Turkish. ... 136 
Bath, Requirements of a Pub- 
lic 231 

Bathing, Fees for 233 

Bathroom, Arranging Fixtures 

in the 57 

Bathroom Fixtures 128 

Bathroom, Scale Drawings of., 57 

Baths in Schools, Shower 162 

Beginning and Termination of 
Work 108 



Brass Goods, Weights and 
Quality of 121 

Building, Example of a Club. . . 207 
Building, Example of a Hotel,. 203 

Buildings, Club 205 

Buildings, Planning the Plumb- 
ing for Club 205 

Buildings, Planning the Plumb- 
ing for Factory 222 

Buildings, Planning the Plumb- 
ing for Hotel 193 

Buildings, Planning the Plumb- 
ing for Office 224 

Buildings, Planning the Plumb- 
ing for School 157 

Buildings, Planning the Plumb- 
ing in Y. M. C. A 171 

Buildings, Requirements for 
Various Types of 123 

Buildings, School 157 

Buildings, Y. M. C. A 171 



Changes from Plans 110 

Churches 215 

Churches, Planning the Plumb- 
ing for 215 

City Clubs 206 

Clauses, Salvation 114 

Closet Accommodations, Tem- 
porary 118 

Club Building 205 

Club Building, Example of a. . 207 
Club Buildings, Planning the 

Plumbing for 205 

Clubs, Athletic 212 

Clubs, City 206 

Clubs, Country 205 

Colleges and Schools, Advanced 165 

Conditions, General 87 

Connections to Drains 122 

Contractor, Photographic 
Prints for the 60 



Convenience Station, An 
Above-ground 258 

Convenience Stations, Exam- 
ples of Public 258 

Convenience Stations, Location 
for Public 256 

Convenience Stations, Planning 
Public 255 

Convenience Stations, Under- 
ground Public 260 

Country Clubs 205 

Courthouses 183 

Courthouses, Planning Plumb- 
ing for 183 



D 



Dentists' and Doctors' Homes.. 134 

Description of Drawings 104 

Detail Drawings 34 

Details, Plumbing 45 

Divisions and Subdivisions of 
Specifications 85 

Doctors' and Dentists' Homes.. 134 

Drains, Connections to 122 

Drainage Pipes, Testing 121 

Drainage System 87 

Drawings, Description of 104 

Drawings, Detail 34 

Drawings of Bathrooms, Scale 57 

Drawing Plumbing Plans 55 

Drinking Fountains for Schools 165 



Examples of Residence Plumb- 
ing 138 

Example of the Usual Plumb- 
ing Plan 27 

Extra Work, Prices for 112 



F 



Factory Buildings, Planning 

the Plumbing for 222 

Fees for Bathing 233 

Filter 134 

Fire Engine Houses, Planning 

the Plumbing for 220 

Fixtures 88 

Fixtures, Bathroom 128 

Fixtures for Schools, Number 
of Toilet 160 

Fixtures in the Bathroom, Ar- 
ranging 57 

Fixtures, Kitchen 131 

Fixtures, Laundry 132 

Fixtures, Location and Num- 
ber of 105 

Fixtures, Nursery 131 

Fixtures on Plans, Indicating 
Plumbing 15 

Fixtures, Overflows for Apart- 
ment House 154 

Fixtures Required, Number of, 159 

Framing for Plumbing Pipes . . 56 

Function of Specifications 61 



Elements Into Specifications, 
Reading 118 

Engine Houses, Planning the 
Plumbing for Fire 220 

Example of Apartment House 
Plans 152 

Example of a Club Building. . . 207 

Example of a Hotel Building. , 203 

Example of a Plumbing Speci- 
fication 65 

Example of a Public Bath and 
Wash House 286 

Example of New Method 
Plumbing Plans 35 

Examples of New Method 
Plumbing Details 45 

Examples of Plumbing in 
Schoolhouses 166 

Examples of Public Conve- 
nience Stations 258 



Guaranteeing Work and Ma- 
terials 115 



H 

Homes, Doctors' and Den- 
tists' 134 

Home, Turkish Bath in the. . . . 136 

Hospitals 246 

Hospitals, Theaters and Pris- 
ons, Plumbing Work in 243 

Hotels 193 

Hotel Building, Example of a. . 203 

Hotel Buildings, Planning the 

Plumbing for 193 

Hot Water for Residences 133 

House, Example of a Public 
Bath and Wash 236 

Houses, Apartment 147 



Houses, Location of Bath 230 

Houses, Necessity for Bath 229 

Houses, Public Bath 229 

Houses, Planning- the Plumb- 
ing for Fire Engine 220 

Houses, Planning the Plumb- 
ing in Apartment 147 

Houses, Public Wash 234 



Improved Type of Plumbing 
Plans 33 

Indicating Plumbing Appa- 
ratus on Plans 13 

Indicating Plumbing Fixtures 
on Plans 15 

Indicating Plumbing Works on 
Plans 3 

Infirmary 161 

Intermediate and Primary 
Schools 158 

Interpretation of Plans and 
Specifications 101 

Inspection and Superintend- 
ence 107 

Instructions, Verbal Ill 



K 



Kitchen Fixtures 131 

Kitchens in Schools 163 



Laundry Fixtures 132 

Layout of Plumbing Systems . • 25 
Libraries, Planning the Plumb- 
ing for 219 

Location and number of Fix- 
tures 105 

Location of Bath Houses 230 

Location of Public Convenience 
Stations 256 

Lunches, School Tax Item 164 



M 

Main, Water 89 

Materials and Work, Guaran- 
teeing 115 



N 



Necessity for Bath Houses 229 

New Method Plumbing Plans, 
Example of 35 

Noiseless Plumbing in Resi- 
dences 135 

Number and Location of Fix- 
tures 105 

Number of Fixtures Required.. 159 

Number of Toilet Fixtures for 
Schools 160 

Nursery Fixtures 131 



Office Buildings, Planning the 

Plumbing for 224 

Offices, Planning the Plumbing 
for Printing 227 

Overflows for Apartment 
House Fixtures 154 



Pantry Sink 131 

Payments 116 

Permits and Plumbing Laws . . 105 

Photographic Prints for the 

Contractor.. 60 

Pipe, Service 92 

Pipes, Framing for Plumbing.. 56 

Pipes, Specifying Weights of. . 121 

Pipes, Testing the Drainage. . . 121 

Plan, Example of the Usual 
Plumbing 27 

Planning Plumbing for Court- 
houses 183 

Planning Plumbing Work 123 

Planning Public Convenience 
Stations 255 

Planning the Plumbing for 
Churches 215 

Planning the Plumbing for 
Club Buildings 205 

Planning the Plumbing for Fac- 
tory Buildings 222 

Planning the Plumbing for Fire 
Engine Houses 220 

Planning the Plumbing for Ho- 
tel Buildings 193 

Planning the Plumbing for Li- 
braries 219 

Planning the Plumbing for Of- 
fice Buildings 224 



Planning' the Plumbing' for 
Printing Offices 227 

Planning the Plumbing for 
Railway Stations 225 

Planning the Plumbing for 
Residences 127 

Planning the Plumbing for 
School Buildings 157 

Planning the Plumbing for Va- 
rious Structures 219 

Planning the Plumbing in 
Apartment Houses 147 

Planning' the Plumbing in Y. 
M. C. A. Buildings 171 

Plans aHd Specifications, Inter- 
pretation of 101 

Plans, Changes from 110 

Plans, Drawing Plumbing 55 

Plans, Example of Apartment 
House 152 

Plans, Improved Type of 
Plumbing 33 

Plans, Indicating Plumbing 
Apparatus on 13 

Plans, Indicating Pliimbing 
Fixtures on 15 

Plans, Indicating Plumbing 
Work on 3 

Plans, Plumbing 1 

Plans, Symbols for Plumbing. . 1 

Plans, Usual Type of Plumb- 
ing. 25 

Playgrounds, Public 238 

Plumbing Apparatus on Plans, 
Indicating 13 

Plumbing, Examples of Resi- 
dence 138 

Plumbing Details 45 

Plumbing Fixtures on Plans, 
Indicating 15 

Plumbing for Churches, Plan- 
ning the 215 

Plumbing for Club Buildings, 
Planning the 205 

Plumbing for Courthouses, 
Planning 183 

Plumbing for Factory Build- 
ings, Planning the 222 

Plumbing for Fire Engine 
Houses, Planning the 220 

Plumbing for Hotel Buildings, 
Planning the 193 

Plumbing for Libraries, Plan- 
ning the 219 

Plumbing for Office Bmldings, 
Planning the 224 

Plumbing for Printing Offices, 
Planning the 227 



Plumbing for Railway Stations, 
Planning the 225 

Plumbing for Residences, Plan- 
ning the 127 

Plumbing for School Buildings, 
Planning the 157 

Plumbing for Various Struc- 
tures, Planning the 219 

Plumbing in Apartment 
Houses, Planning the 147 

Plumbing in Residences, Noise- 
less 135 

Pliunbing in Schoolhouses, Ex- 
amples of 166 

Plumbing in Y. M. C. A. Build- 
ings, Planning the 171 

Plumbing Laws and Permits . . 105 

Plumbing Plan, Example of 
the Usual 27 

Plumbfng Plans 1 

Plumbing Plans, Drawing 55 

Plumbing Pipes, Framing for. . 56 
Plumbing Plans, Example of 

New Method 35 

Plumbing Plans, Improved 

Type of 33 

Plumbing Plans, Symbols for.. 1 
Plumbing Plans, Usual Type of 25 
Plumbing Specification, Exam- 
ple of a 65 

Plumbing Specifications 61 

Plimibing Specifications, 

Writing 61 

Plumbing Systems, Layout of.. 25 
Plumbing Work in Theaters, 
Hospitals and Prisons 243 

Plvunbing Work on Plans, Indi- 
cating 3 

Plumbing Work, Planning. .... 123 

Prices for Extra Work 112 

Primary and Intermediate 
School 158 

Prints for the Contractor, Pho- 
tographic 60 

Printing Offices, Planning the 
Plumbing for 227 

Prisons 253 

Prisons, Hospitals and Thea- 
ters, Plumbing Work in . . . 243 

Public Bath and Wash House, 
Example of 236 

Public Bath Houses 229 

Public Bath, Requirements. . . . 231 

Public Convenience Stations, 
Examples of 258 

Public Convenience Stations, 
Location for 256 



Public Convenience Stations, 
Planning 255 

Public Convenience Stations, 

Underground 260 

Public Playgrounds 238 

Public Wash Houses 234 



Quality and Weights of Brass 
Goods 121 



R 



Railway Stations, Planning the 
Plumbing for 225 

Reading Elements Into Speci- 
fications 118 

Requirements for Various 
Types of Buildings 123 

Requirements of a Public Bath 231 
Residences, Hot Water for. . . . 133 
Residences, Noiseless Plumb- 
ing in 135 

Residence Plumbing, Exam- 
ples of 138 

Residences, Planning the 
Plumbing for 127 

Room, Teachers' 161 

Rooms, Ventilation of Toilet. . . 160 



Salvation Clauses 114 

Scale Drawings of Bathrooms.. 57 

School Buildings 157 

School Buildings, Planning the 

Plumbing for 157 

School Lunches Tax Item 164 

Schools and Colleges, Ad- 
vanced 165 

Schools, Drinking Fountains 
for 165 

Schoolhouses, Examples of 
Plumbing in 166 

Schools, Intermediate and Pri- 
mary 158 

Schools, Kitchens in 163 

Schools, Number of Toilet Fix- 
tures for 160 

Schools, Shower Baths in 162 

Schools, Swimming Pools in. . . 163 

Schools, Water Closet Accom- 
modations for 158 

Service Pipe 92 



Shower Baths in Schools 162 

Sink, Pantry 131 

Sinks, Slop 130 

Slop Sinks 130 

Specification, Example of a 
Plumbing 65 

Specification Writing, Sugges- 
tions for 85 

Specifications, Analysis of 101 

Specifications and Plans, Inter- 
pretation of 101 

Specifications, Divisions and 

Subdivisions of 85 

Specifications, Function of .... 61 

Specifications, Plumbing 61 

Specifications, Reading Ele- 
ments into 118 

Specifications, Writing Plumb- 
ing 61 

Specifying Weights of Pipes . . 121 
Station, An Above-ground Con- 
venience 258 

Stations, Example of Public 
Convenience 258 

Stations, Location for Public 
Convenience 256 

Stations, Planning Public Con- 
venience 255 

Stations, Planning the Plumb- 
ing for Railway 225 

Stations, Suburban 225 

Stations, Terminal 226 

Stations, Underground Public 

Convenience 260 

Structures, Planning the 

Plumbing for Various 219 

Subdivisions and Divisions of 

Specifications 85 

Suburban Stations 225 

Suggestions for Specification 

Writing 85 

Superintendence and Inspec- 
tion 107 

Supply, Water 88 

Supply, Water 89 

Symbols for Plumbing Plans.. 1 

Swimming Pools in Schools 163 

System, Drainage 87 

Systems, Layout of Plumbing.. 25 



Tax Item, School Lunches 164 

Teachers' Room 161 

Temporary Closet Accommoda- 
tions 118 



Termination and Beginning of 
Work 108 

Terminal Stations 226 

Testing the Drainage Pipes. . . . 121 
Theaters, Hospitals and Pris- 
ons, Plumbing Work in ... . 243 

Toilet Fixtures for Schools, 
Number of 160 

Toilet Rooms, Ventilation of. . , 160 
Type of Plumbing Plans, Im- 
proved 33 

Type of Plumbing Plans, Usual 25 

Types of Buildings, Require- 
ments for Various 123 

Turkish Bath in the Home 136 



u 

Underground Public Conve- 
nience Stations 260 

Usual Plumbing Plan, Exam- 
ple of the 27 

Usual Types of Plumbing 
Plans 25 



Various Types of Buildings, 

Requirements for 123 

Ventilation of Toilet Rooms. .. 160 

Verbal Instructions Ill 



w 



Wash House and Bath, Exam- 
ple of a PubHc 236 

Wash Houses, Public 234 

Water Closet Accommodations 
for Schools 158 

Water for Residences, Hot. . . . 133 

WaterMain 89 

Water Supply 88 

Water Supply 89 

Weights and Quality of Brass 
Goods 121 

Weights of Pipes, Specifying. . 121 

Work and Materials, Guaran- 
teeing 115 

Work, Beginning and Termi- 
nation of 108 

Work in Theaters, Hospitals 
and Prisons, Plumbing.... 243 

Work on Plans, Indicating 
Plumbing 3 

Work, Planning Plumbing 128 

Work, Prices for Extra 112 

Writing Plumbing Specifica- 
tions 61 

Writing, Suggestions for Speci- 
fication 85 




One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



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